


Please don't stand so close to me, I'm having trouble breathing

by Tillyalf427



Category: Free!
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Again, Anal Sex, Angst, Based on episode 2, Character Death, Concussions, Domestic Violence, Free! Dive to the Future, Hiyori seems like a dick, Hospitals, How Do I Tag, I don't hate him I swear, I just needed him to be a dick for the purpose of this story, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Ikuya Suffers, Ikuya's friends are great, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kind of graphic description of suicide, Minor Injuries, Other, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sad, Serious Injuries, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, This is really sad, Violence, bad summary, kind of smut but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-06-13 05:31:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15357324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tillyalf427/pseuds/Tillyalf427
Summary: After many failed attempts at trying to find Ikuya, Haru, Makoto, Kisumi and Asahi begin to worry, especially when they see him covered in bruises...They think they've imagined it until Haru tells them that it's true, Ikuya is in an abusive relationship of some sort...And they need to save himThis is a really bad summary I apologise but I don't know how to summarise this





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please, PleAsE, PLEASE, do not read this if you could be triggered by anything along the lines of rape/ non-con or by anything to do with abuse or abusive relationships, I don't want to trigger anyone with this it was just an idea I got
> 
> Anyway, I watched the two episodes of dive to the future today and Hiyori's character got me thinking, he seems very controlling towards ikuya however I don't honestly think he's a bad guy it just kind of happened to make this story happen, I feel like I will grow to love him in future but I also love angsty Ikuya fanfics so this happened. This is based off episode 2 and the title comes from a song called distance by Christina Perri and Jason Mraz (It's a good song, worth looking up) but annnnnyyywayyyy enjoy this angsty, sad Ikuya fic
> 
> Also I'm not sure whether to do multiple chapters to this, I feel like I should but I also feel like I'll grow to love Hiyori and I won't be able to write him as abusive anymore so I dunno, let me know what you think

It had all started when they had tried to look for Ikuya. As Makoto scanned the list of names, a feeling of dread began pooling in Haru's stomach, as if something bad was going to happen however, he couldn't think of any reasonable explanation. Something about Ikuya wasn't right, he could feel it but couldn't work out what it was.

"Oh, here he is!" Makoto's voice interrupted Haru's train of thought,"Shimogami University?" Makoto continued, successfully destroying Haru's doubts and worries concerning Ikuya.

I'm sure He's fine, you're imagining things

The anxiety returned as the four boys began walking over to where they were told Shimogami University's students were sitting. Haru slowed down slightly, trailing behind and soon gaining the attention of Makoto

"Haru! Is everything alright?" He asked quietly, concern gracing his features as the two slowed down to talk in private

"Yeah, it's just...Something doesn't feel right...about Ikuya.....I'm not sure what though..." Haru released a long sigh which received a sympathetic smile from Makoto

"I'm sure everything will be fine...If not, well...we'll work through it together, whatever it is..." Makoto's words helped to calm Haru slightly as they continued walking.

 

 

Ikuya was uncomfortable to say the least. He was surrounded by his team members however, he had never felt so out of place in his life. He could feel Hiyori's burning gaze on him, watching, always watching. He could feel every bruise, every cut, every harsh word, all through that gaze and he wanted nothing more than to disappear. His hand ached from the harsh grip Hiyori had on it and the longer he sat there, the more the anxiety built up in his chest.

"I'm going to get ready,"Ikuya stated as he stood up, masking a wince as he had to pull his bruised hand out of Hiyori's grip. As he began walking away, the gaze was still there however, this time, he heard a voice to accompany it.

"Good luck," Hiyori's voice may have sounded like simple encouragement to anyone else but Ikuya knew, it was full of mocking, amusement at Ikuya's suffering and it left a horrible bitter taste in Ikuya's mouth

"Thanks," He murmured, hoping that if he appeared unbothered, Hiyori would let him off easy. Hopefully, Hiyori would see it as him being good by not making his fear obvious, that was good, right? He began walking off, limping slightly due to one of Hiyori's previous bursts of anger.

 

 

Makoto, Haru, Kisumi ad Asahi made their way towards a group of Shimogami university students, hoping they would be able to help them find Ikuya. Makoto was the first one to speak when they reached them

"Um excuse me," The other three boys appeared quickly behind him "Is there a Kirishima Ikuya-Kun with you?" As he asked this, Makoto failed to notice the threatening glare that had become fixed on him

"Who are you guys?"One of Hiyori's teammates asked, making him sigh out in relief. At least he wasn't the only one put off by their arrival

"We were Ikuya's buddies in middle school." the red-haired one, Asahi if he remembered correctly, stated. Hiyori only felt his rage grow the longer he stared at the four people in front of him. As his teammates continued talking to the group, Hiyori got lost in his thoughts

_Ikuya better have a good reason as to why these idiots are looking for him or else he's in trouble......_

"So Kirishima Ikuya isn't here?" One of them asked after a while

"No, he's not," Hiyori said, an extremely fake smile plastered upon his face "You don't see him do you?" No one noticed the malice in his voice before he continued in a cheerful tone "Look, the next race is about to start, shouldn't you go back to your own seats to cheer them on?"

Makoto and Haru shared a knowing glance before nodding, the four boys making their way back to their seats disappointed

 

 

Ikuya slammed his locker closed as his hands trembled and his heart raced

_I should be used to it by now, he's only trying to help me improve, besides he doesn't even hurt me all that much, I need to stop being such a wimp......_

Tears began falling gently down Ikuya's face as he remembered how things used to be...Before Hiyori...Before the abuse started...

He knew Haru and Asahi were here. He had seen their names on the list of swimmers, however, as much as he wanted to go and find them, the consequences from Hiyori made it not worth it. He could deal with being alone, besides they probably didn't want to see him anyway. With that thought in mind, he quickly left the locker room to go for his race.

 

 

"That guy with the glasses from Shimogami University was a real jerk," Asahi sighed "We didn't get to see Ikuya either."

Haru felt sick listening to Asahi talk about the Shimogami students. He had the same feeling that Ikuya was in danger when he was talking to him and it filled him with both unease and rage.

"Well we were the ones who went over and butted in," Kisumi pointed out

"Oh, It's starting!" Makoto said, noticing the tension throughout the group at the mention of the Shimogami students and also sensing the unease radiating from Haru. If even Haru was affected, surely something must be wrong. Haru didn't overreact unless something truly was wrong.

"Ikuya....." Haru's voice trailed off upon seeing the other, gaining the other three boys attention

"Please someone tell me I'm imagining those bruises..." Asahi gasped

"You're not imagining them, that's for sure..." Kisumi added

"Maybe it's nothing! Maybe he just tripped..?" Makoto seemed to be trying to convince himself that what he was seeing wasn't real

"We need to talk to him somehow..." Haru's voice was filled with anger

 

 

As soon as the race ended, the four boys rushed down to the locker room in a desperate attempt to find Ikuya however, upon reaching the locker room, they found it empty.

"Someone did that to him...." Haru's voice cut through the silence, plunging the group into an uncomfortable silence

"Maybe if we wait here he'll come..."Kisumi suggested, desperate for a solution. The four all slumped on the seats in the locker room, praying that Ikuya would come back.

 

 

The hot spray from the shower was relaxing against Ikuya's back as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He heard approaching footsteps and tensed up instinctively before a voice cut through the silence previously only interrupted by the falling of water

"Ikuya," Hiyori's voice said sharply. Ikuya slowly turned around, resembling a cornered animal as he glanced at Hiyori terrified.

"What have I told you about answering when someone talks to you Ikuya?" Hiyori's voice elicited a sharp flinch from Ikuya who promptly apologised to the brunette in front of him

"How about we have a bit of fun Ikuya?" Hiyori asked mockingly as he opened the door to the shower an stepped inside after shedding his clothes, knowing the other boy would always be too terrified to say no to him.

"I don't think that's a good idea...." Ikuya mumbled, his head down and his gaze locked on the floor. A sharp hit to his jaw caused him to look up at Hiyori again as the brunette began to speak, his jaw throbbing painfully

"Oh, I think it is. And you can tell me all about your little friends who were so insistent on finding you. They clearly don't know how weak and pathetic you are, but it's okay, I'll fix it. Stick with me and you'll no longer be pathetic. People will no longer look down on you. I'll help you Ikuya, I don't see why you can't see that."

"I..I do...I know you're trying to help me..." Ikuya's voice trembled as Hiyori trailed a and down his back, dread building up quickly inside him.

"Then how about you show me some appreciation for what I'm doing for you." The brunette began roughly pushing a dry finger into him, causing him to cry out in pain, only to be quickly shushed by Hiyori as tears fell down his face, seemingly going unnoticed by the other.

"Now now Ikuya, you'll have to be quiet, you wouldn't want someone walking in and seeing you like this now, would you? Especially not your little friends," Hiyori laughed at Ikuya's pained expression as he pushed in another finger, ignoring the others whimpers and cries of pain.

"Shh, don't act like you don't enjoy it," Ikuya tried to struggle which appeared to work as Hiyori pulled his fingers out of him however, just as Ikuya began to relax slightly, Hiyori wrapped his arms around him from behind, quickly pushing his dick into him, eliciting screams or pain and agony which were muffled by the hand clamped over his mouth.

Ikuya thrashed and cried, trying to get Hiyori away from him however, he was hurt and Hiyori had a vice-like grip on him, preventing him from escaping.

This continued for another ten minutes before Hiyori became sick of Ikuya's crying and whimpering, pulling out of him and letting him drop to the floor as he began putting his clothes back on.

"Hurry up, we're leaving. Our races are done, there's no point in staying. I brought your stuff, be ready in 15 minutes or else..." Hiyorileft the shower, leaving Ikuya to let out a loud, ugly sob as he curled into a ball, trying to alleviate the pain as he wallowed in pain and suffering.

He eventually managed to drag himself off the ground, standing under the stream of water from the shower for long enough to wash away the blood on the backs of his thighs before limping out from the shower to stumble around whilst putting his clothes on. Any small movements hurt as he stumbled out of the showers towards the entrance

_I wonder how Haru and Asahi are doing...I wonder if Haru and Makoto are still in contact...I want to see them...But he'll kill me if I try to find them, I'm already late as it is...  
_

 

 

He eventually reached the cafe where Hiyori had said to meet him and quickly rushed over to the brunette who was sat at a table

"I'm sorry Hiyori! I just struggled to get dressed a bit..." Ikuya mumbled the last part, his face burning with shame as he looked down at the floor

"It's perfectly fine Ikuya, I forgive you. You can't be perfect after all," Hiyori gave a warm smile which should've acted as comfort to Ikuya but it simply made him even more anxious

"You did really well in the individual medley today, you should call Natsuya and tell him as soon as possible" He continued

"He's in a different timezone, I'll just wait to tell him.." Ikuya said quietly, remembering how much he missed his brother. Oh, how he wanted to tell Natsuya everything, he'd probably get on the next flight back and would come and help him immediately but, he couldn't do that. His brother had worked hard to achieve his dream and Ikuya wasn't about to take that away from him with his stupid problems that he should be old enough to deal with.

"He'll be so proud of you, here try some of this cake" Hiyori's voice was strangely happy as he held out some of the cake he had ordered to Ikuya

"Hiyori...You're acting weird.." Ikuya said quietly, avoiding eye contact with the other

"I don't know what you mean. I'm acting the same as usual." Hiyori's smile didn't disappear and Ikuya decided to drop the subject.

Soon after the two left the cafe, heading back to the train station before realisation fell upon Ikuya

"I left my phone at the restaurant, I'm just going to get it quickly. You should go on without me," He said, turning to leave without waiting for an answer

"Ikuya wait!" Hiyori tried but he was already gone

 

 

Makoto, Haru, Kisumi and Asahi were waiting for their train when Haru quickly realised that he had forgotten something as they'd left the locker room earlier that day. He turned quickly to Makoto

"I forgot something at the venue, I'm just going to run back and get it," He said, earning a smile from Makoto and a quick "Hurry back" Before he set off running.

It wasn't until he almost ran into someone that he noticed the familiar face in front of him, graced with a shocked but also scared expression.

"Ikuya..." Haru gasped out

"Haru, it's been a while," Ikuya nodded, hiding his surprise at seeing the other boy

"Yeah, Are you okay?" Haru asked quietly, not wanting to startle the other boy

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ikuya replied, avoiding eye contact. Haru slowly reached a hand out towards Ikuya's face, receiving a sharp flinch as his hand came in contact with Ikuya's bruising jaw

"Are you sure? Why's your jaw bruised? And why is your chest covered in bruises?" Haru asked before being interrupted by another voice

"Ikuya! There you are! I was getting worried so I came to look for you." Hiyori appeared behind Ikuya, his expression immediately darkening when he saw Hau's hand on Ikuya's face

"Don't ever touch him again, got it?" Hiyori growled, grasping Haru's hand in a bruising grip before hissing, grabbing Ikuya's wrist and dragging him away, Ikuya glanced back to see Haru's shocked expression, guilt filling his entire body as he mouthed two words to the other boy

"I'm sorry..."


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants more Ikuya suffering? Because I sure do!  
> Also I have no idea what happened at the end, I should probably stop writing chapters so late at night because they end up shitty like the end of this chapter but I reeeeaallly wanted to include Natsuya so whoop, he's here and Rin, he's being a supportive boyfriend to Natsuya.  
> Anyway, I really need to catch up with this because episode 6 is gonna be really fun to include in this somewhere so yeah I dunno

**_It was dark, he couldn't see anything at all. He could however feel the water surrounding him, rushing around him although, instead of the usual comfort which came with being surrounded by the water, he felt a spike of panic. He couldn't move his arms. All he could do was struggle as_ ** _**the water pulled him further and further into the darkness. He briefly saw a hand reach out towards him. Hiyori.....However, when he reached to grasp it, a loud, harsh laugh sounded out as the hand was torn away as fast as lightning, leaving him alone and cold.** _

_I'm alone again...No one's going to save me.....If that's how it is, I....._

 

 

Ikuya woke up gasping in his room, covered in sweat as he breathed heavily to catch his breath. After a minute or two of calming himself down, he heard his phone vibrating behind his head. He sat up, waiting another minute before reaching out for his phone, checking the caller ID and feeling a shiver of fear run through his body. Hiyori. Taking a deep breath, he answered the call, quietly steadying his breath as he began to speak to Hiyori.

"Morning Ikuya, Were you awake?" Hiyori's voice sounded sickly sweet and it made bile rise in Ikuya's throat as he remembered what had happened at the tournament the previous day.

"The phone woke me up. What is it?" Ikuya asked, his voice cold. when Hiyori wasn't directly near him, his will to fight back sometimes reappeared, however, it was usually destroyed once again by Hiyori's fists later on, usually accompanied by him shouting about listening to him and not disobeying him again. The hairs stood up on Ikuya's arms in response.

"Nothing, really. Just a wake-up call. I wanted to make sure you won't be late for practice," Hiyori's voice held a sinister tone to it which unnerved Ikuya who shivered slightly in fear.

"I won't be late," Ikuya responded simply, his voice quiet an timid as he shifted slightly, wincing as he felt pain shoot up his spine from Hiyori's 'fun' at the tournament the yesterday. He tried not to let his pain show in his voice although it appeared he had failed when Hiyori said in an amused tone;

"I hope not. You know, after all that happened yesterday...That teammate of yours from middle school, Nanase-kun was it?"Hiyori's voice went from amused to sinister in a second and Ikuya managed to stop himself from curling up into a ball in an attempt to hide, fear rushing through his veins.

"Just forget about that, I'm fine," Ikuya responded. He knew Hiyori was only pretending to be concerned when in reality, he was jealous. Jealous of Haru, and the relationship he had with Ikuya before Hiyori even knew him. He also knew that if his times were affected by his thoughts of Haru and middle school and everything else that was swirling around in his head, Hiyori would know, and he would make him pay for it.

One time, in America, Natsuya had gotten sick. It had caused Ikuya to worry enough to change his time by two seconds. Hiyori hadn't been impressed and Ikuya had been icing bruises for weeks afterwards. That was one of the first times Hiyori left bruises in visible places and not surprisingly, Natsuya had noticed, forcing Ikuya to lie and say he ran into the door handle and bruised his side. Natsya hadn't bought it but he had dropped the subject at least. Hiyori obviously knew that Natsuya was suspicious and had done even more damage, threatening Ikuya to never let anyone know, or else. From then, Ikuya had become better at making excuses and had also become skilled in hiding the cuts and bruises whether it be with clothing or makeup, he managed to hide everything from Natsuya long enough for him to forget it completely.

Snapping back to reality, Ikuya continued;

"I need to get ready, all right? See you later," Without waiting for a response, Ikuya hung up the phone. A small voice in the back of his mind told him that he's regret hanging up on Hiyori later on but at the moment, he was more focused on the shaking in his hands and the burning that made his throat constrict tightly, blocking his breaths and making them shallow and uneven. He began counting slowly out loud and tried to match his breaths to the numbers

_I'm okay, I'm Okay. I'm okay, no one's going to hurt me here, Hiyori can't get me....._

_Yet..._

Ikuya made his way down to the pool, quickly getting changed and placing his things in his locker. He had yet to run into Hiyori and he felt a harsh shudder down his spine as he thought about it.

_Let's just hope my times haven't gotten worse......_

He climbed up onto the diving block, diving into the water and swimming a couple of laps before pulling himself out of the water with ease.

"Kirishima," A voice said as he climbed out of the pool. He looked up to see their coach stood in front of him "Was everything okay yesterday?" He asked, making Ikuya's blood run cold. Surely he didn't know about Hiyori...?

"Yeah," Ikuya lied, subconsciously covering the bruises on his stomach from the other week.

"Your IM was unbelievable," The coach continued " It's a shame that's your only event even though you swim so well. Why don't you enter the freestyle relay?" Ikuya looked away at the question, scared that his eyes would begin watering

"No, relays aren't..." Ikuya began, being cut off by Hiyori's strong voice

"Hoshikawa-senpai, Ikuya doesn't swim relays," Hiyori appeared next to Ikuya and gripped his wrist hard.

"Why not?" Hoshikawa asked, not noticing Hiyori's grip on Ikuya or that expression of pain and fear on Ikuya's face.

"He focuses on individual events," Hiyori spoke for Ikuya. That was how it always went, Hiyori spoke for him and made decisions, and Ikuya went along with them, scared that if he didn't, he would be punched and kicked until he couldn't breathe. This was his life, constant fear and no control over his own decisions.

"Right Ikuya?" Hiyori turned to him. This surprised Ikuya, his opinion wasn't important, it had never been in Hiyori's eyes.

"Yeah I can't perform my best in team events," Ikuya said simply, figuring his opinion was only asked to avoid rousing suspicion.

"What? Come on man!" Hoshikawa said, slightly louder, making Ikuya flinch. His breathing sped up slightly, followed closely by his heart rate.

"Sorry. Excuse me," Ikuya walked away, trying to act normal as Hiyori's eyes followed his every move

"What a waste of talent," Hoshikawa sighed, Hiyori glanced at him before he followed Ikuya out of the pool and into the changing rooms.

 

"Ikuya," Hiyori attempted to get the others attention but he ignored him, making the anger bubbling inside Hiyori to increase.

"Ikuya! Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" He spoke louder now, gaining Ikuya's attention and a sharp flinch from him. He grabbed Ikuya's wrist and pulled harshly, forcing Ikuya to turn around to face him

"Ikuya, look at me," Hiyori commanded, however, Ikuya ignored him and continued looking down at the ground. A loud slap echoed through the now empty changing rooms as Hiyori stuck Ikuya across the face with his palm. Without saying another word, Hiyori dragged Ikuya into the showers, entering a cubicle and locking the door behind him. He pushed Ikuya so that he was against the wall opposite the door and he stood threateningly, glaring at Ikuya.

"What was that this morning? Hm?" Hiyori asked accusingly, throwing a sharp punch at Ikuya's ribs, hearing a satisfying thump as Ikuya was pushed back into the wall, his breath knocked out of his lungs

"...I'm....S...Sorry...I didn't mean to......" Ikuya choked out between gasping breaths.

Hiyori didn't listen, throwing another hard punch straight at Ikuya's stomach, causing him to cough so hard Hiyori was sure he was going to throw up. Hiyori ignored Ikuyas choking and gasping, walking forwards and wrapping a hand around his throat tightly as he muttered darkly

"Never hang up on me again, and don't even fucking think about ignoring me again bitch," He released his grip on Ikuya's throat and let the other fall to his knees in front of him, kicking his stomach once more before saying

"Get up, you're pathetic. I'll be out at the pool, come out when you're ready to fucking behave, and god help you if your time is worse."

Hiyori left the cubicle, pushing the door closed slightly as Ikuya scrambled over to lock the door so that he couldn't come back through.

Only when he was sure he was alone did Ikuya let his tears fall as he gently held his aching stomach

_How could this happen, why me? I can't even escape either...There's nothing I can do.....Natsuya...Haru...Makoto...Asahi....I'm sorry I'm not stronger...I need to get stronger...Right.....right....._

"Right," Ikuya mumbled" Hiyori's helping me get stronger...Yeah, that's what it is... I need to get stronger...."

With this thought in mind, Ikuya stumbled to his feet, making his way back out to the pool with a blank expression which by this point he had practically mastered.

 

 

 

"Sorry I'm so late," Makoto said as he entered the room, seeing Haru and Asahi already talking and eating "Hey, where's Kisumi?" He asked, noticing the pink haired boys absence immediately

"He said his club was meeting up," Haru replied before Asahi took over

"He sure is loving the college life,"

"That's a good thing, isn't it? It suits him," Makoto smiled gently "Anyway do we have a plan to go and see Ikuya?" He continued, asking the question that everyone seemed to want to avoid, especially Haru

Asahi looked away before he began to speak;

"Actually about that...I'm not sure if it's right for all of us to just barge in. So maybe we should have Kisumi go over and talk to him for a bit first," He explained, avoiding all eye contact

"You're not usually this timid," Makoto commented gently

"Well, you know...I told him back then that I wouldn't move again...." Asahi mumbled uncharacteristically

"It'll be fine. Ikuya's not mad about that," Makoto reassured

"You told Ikuya what was going on back then, didn't you?" Haru asked, turning to Makoto who nodded slowly.

"Yeah. A little after you quit the club and Asahi moved away the team broke up, but Ikuya was optimistic about continuing with swimming," Makoto explained

"And he went to America with Natsuya senpai after that?" Asahi asked

"Yeah," Makoto responded

"Who was that guy we saw with Ikuya? A friend from high school?" Asahi wondered aloud. Haru visibly tensed up at this, his eyes wide as the stared at Asahi

"No idea...." Makoto replied before asking;" Haru are you alright?"

"Yeah..." Haru's voice was emotionless as always "I just don't trust that guy, he seems to act weirdly whenever Ikuya is involved," Haru decided not to tell Makoto ad Asahi about his meeting with Ikuya after the tournament yesterday, thinking that he was seeing things and thinking that he imagined the death grip that guy had on Ikuya's wrist, thinking that he imagined the fear in Ikuya's eyes and the pain in his voice when he apologised....

His thoughts were cut off by Asahi;

"And when did Ikuya come back from America anyway? Where'd he go to high school? It seems like...We don't know anything about Ikuya at all...Even though we were all his teammates..." Asahi's words made everyone think for a minute, causing the room to be silent.

All Haru could think about was the fear Ikuya's eyes, the bruises he could quite clearly see despite a poor attempt at hiding them, the strange atmosphere between Ikuya and the new guy...

"We need to go and see him...Something's going on, and I don't think it's good," Haru said quietly, gaining nods of agreement from everyone in the room before everything went silent again.

 

 

 

Ikuya swam and swam until he couldn't feel his arms anymore. He could feel Hiyori's gaze burning holes into his back and could feel the throbbing in his stomach an ribs as well as his head where a raging headache was forming. His mind flashed back to that day in middle school, the one where he almost drowned and his vision went blurry for a minute. He struggled on to the end of the pool with his eyes closed before shakily pulling himself out of the water.

Hiyori was already there, waiting for him as he walked away from the pool.

"Nice swimming Ikuya," Hiyori's words, although they sounded like a simple compliment, Ikuya could sense the venom hidden behind them "Your rhythm seemed a little different from usual though, Is something wrong?" He asked, feigning concern

"No..." ikuya mumbled, avoiding looking at Hiyori

"You're breathing kind hard though," Hiyori pointed out. ikuya began walking away again, saying as he walked past;

"You worry too much Hiyori, Leave me alone,"

Hiyori fixed Ikuya with a glare as he walked over to the diving block again

_You've just made a terrible mistake Ikuya...Never tell me what to do, or you'll pay for it..._

 

 

 

As Natsuya and Rin made their way out to the restaurant they had been frequenting, Natsuya's phone buzzed, causing him to stop, opening the notification to see a message from Hiyori. The message explained that ikuya's time's had begun to get worse an that he was lacking the power he had at the previous tournament which made Natsuya worry, stopping completely for a moment to think of what could help his younger brother.

"Something wrong?" Rin asked after a while of Natsuya standing completely still

"Message from Japan, it sounds like ikuya's struggling...." Natsuya sighed. He wished he could be there with his brother but for now, he just had to trust Hiyori and hope ikuya was okay.

"Ikuya?" Rin's confused statement prompted a response from Natsuya

"That's my brother,"

"Kirishima Ikuya...." Rin mumbled to himself before being hit by a sudden realization of who Ikuya was.

"Is the message from your brother?" Rin continued

"No it's from a friend of his, they met in America while he was studying abroad," The way Natsuya said the word friend sounded slightly off to Rin but he didn't question it before saying

"Your brother went abroad for swim training?" Natsuya glanced briefly over his shoulder before speaking again

"you and Haruka are friends right?" Rin nodded with a small "Yeah" before Natsuya continued "In the summer of Ikuya's first year of middle school, he swam in a relay with Haruka," Rin gasped as this was said "But Haruka quit the swim club after that. His other teammates moved, or quit, one by one, so the team broke up. Ikuya ended up alone," Natsya paused for a minute and sighed "That's why, in his second year, he came to America where I was studying.....When he was there, he became quieter and quieter, he barely spoke to me the last time I saw him...And he was constantly 'walking into things', tables, chairs, doors...They were all terrible excuses...so I asked Hiyori to look after him after I left..." Natsuya put his fingers up in quotation marks halfway through his sentence

"I dunno, I just worry about him I guess...But it's understandable...He has a bad habit of losing sight of everything when he gets absorbed...He pushed himself too hard and nearly drowned from lack of oxygen...No serious damage was done but I guess the mental shock was pretty huge...The last I heard, it's only happened a couple of times since he's been back in Japan. But.....sometimes I worry that Hiyori is hiding something from me...He never relaxes whenever I'm around and he always tries to leave if there's something wrong with Ikuya and I ask about it...." Natsuya turned round to Rin once more and chuckled before saying

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you my brother's entire life story..."

"No, no, it's fine, I can understand why you're worried...My friend...injured his shoulder and can't swim competitively anymore, I worry about him a lot, I guess it's kind of the same sort of thing." Rin replied

"Yeah..." Natsuya's eyes focused on the sky as he walked

"You should call your brother and ask him. It might help to stop you from worrying if you hear him say he's okay." Rin suggested

"Hmm, Yeah...I think I might, thank's Rin..."

"No problem," Rin replied as they reached the restaurant, going inside to eat

 

When Natsuya returned to his hotel room, he tried to call Ikuya however, the phone went unanswered.

_Usually he'd be up at this time, I wonder what's wrong_

 

 

 

Ikuya could hear his phone ringing but he couldn't summon the strength to pull himself off the floor. After Hiyori had left, he had remained on the floor, cradling his side which was now littered with bruises. It hurt to move and so, Ikuya let his phone continue ringing until it stopped.

_I don't really want to speak to anyone right now anyway...._


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND DOMESTIC ABUSE, PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU THINK THIS WILL BE TRIGGERING

Ikuya lay on his bed in the fading sunlight, a book held above his head as he read. He had eventually managed to summon enough energy to pull his weak body up off the floor, wincing with every movement.

_Far from the land where human beings lived, at the bottom of the ocean which was so clear, like the purest glass, there was the mermaid's kingdom..._

The words blurred in front of him and only then did he notice the tears that had begun forming in his eyes. He scoffed slightly, hating himself for showing his weakness, even though he was completely alone

_Alone._

_That's right._

_No one's going to save me....I'm alone...That's why I'll just have to stay as I am...and deal with everything...Because I'm alone..._

He had no idea how long had passed since Hiyori had left but he knew it was late. He should probably get some sleep, however, the fears that resurfaced whenever he closed his eyes prevented him from sleeping. The nightmares that plagued his dreams any time his eyes closed caused shivers to run down his spine so instead he lay awake, staring up at the ceiling and trying to forget everything that had happened. His eyes repeatedly slipped closed however, he fought against sleep as much as possible, his eyes stinging with tears every time his eyes did happen to slip closed. He eventually fell asleep, his dreams haunted by Hiyori's words until his alarm woke him up abruptly the next morning

 

 

 

Asahi, Haru and Makoto made their way to Shimogami university, with the hope of finding Ikuya however so far, they hadn't seen or heard anything about him. At the current moment in time, they were stood overlooking the pool at Shimogami university, discussing what their next move would be. Upon deciding to look around the campus for him, Asahi called Kisumi asking what lessons Ikuya had, however, to their misfortune, Kisumi had no idea. He hadn't thought to ask and currently had no way of finding out. Upon finding this out, the three of them began walking around the campus.

After wandering around aimlessly for around half an hour, they spotted a familiar face from the tournament the other day and so, they thought to ask him in a desperate attempt to find Ikuya. He relented eventually after Asahi almost started an argument and told them where he thought Ikuya would be, not being entirely sure himself.

 

 

 

Ikuya had eventually managed to drag himself out of bed, wincing in pain at the smallest of movements. He had left his room, dreading seeing Hiyori but also knowing that he would have to face the brunette at some point. He had barely managed to make his way to his lessons. His mind was plagued with worries about how he was going to hide the many bruises at practice and his distractedness hadn't gone unnoticed by Hiyori who consistently nudged him when he wasn't paying attention in his lessons.

The day dragged on until eventually, his last lesson ended and he began dragging himself down to the pool, followed closely by Hiyori. Hiyori gently grabbed Ikuya's wrist, stopping the other in his tracks as Ikuya flinched hard, cowering away from Hiyori slightly

"Ikuya, practice is cancelled today, remember," Hiyori said, his voice strangely gentle. It threw Ikuya off and he stared at Hiyori for a couple of minutes, trying his best to figure out what was going through his head. When his mind came up blank, he gave in, the tension falling from his shoulders as he followed Hiyori who began heading towards the pool despite this. The two of them often trained even though they didn't have practice and today was no different

They walked in silence, Hiyori practically glued to Ikuya's side until something appeared to catch his attention. Hiyori stopped where he stood and absentmindedly spoke to Ikuya

"Go down to the pool and wait for me, okay? I have something to take care of just now,"

Ikuya looked around where Hiyori's gaze was fixed however, Hiyori noticed and urged him to leave, an unspoken threat hanging in the air between them.

Ikuya began walking away as quickly as possible in his pained state, wanting nothing more than to collapse in his bed and cry, however, Hiyori would no doubt be furious if he skipped training. And if he did try to skip practice and go back to his dorm, who knows what Hiyori could do to him. But he could guarantee it wouldn't be good for him.

He let himself get lost in his thoughts as he walked, trying to forget everything that had happened recently. He had a strange feeling about what Hiyori was talking about however, he had been told to leave. And he knew much better than to disobey.

 

 

 

Hiyori felt the pure rage bubbling up inside him as he saw Asahi, Haru and Makoto walking around the campus. He had already told them to stay away from Ikuya, why couldn't they seem to listen? What made them think Ikuya would even want to talk to them? He couldn't let them see Ikuya and start filling his head with lies, he had to get them to leave Ikuya, his Ikuya alone.

 

 

 

"Nobody's there..." Asahi said "Maybe they all left already," he suggested, standing on his tiptoes to look through one of the classroom windows. Neither of the three noticed when Hiyori approached them behind them until a loud voice asked

"What are you guys doing here?" The voice was commanding and intimidating, causing all three of them to turn towards the source of the voice.

"We're just here to see an old friend from middle school," Asahi stated, immediately recognising Hiyori. The brunette sighed loudly. When will they understand, Ikuya doesn't want them, and he certainly doesn't need them. Ikuya has him, and he's all he'll need.

"This again?" Hiyori asked, unable to keep the frustration out of his voice. "Ikuya doesn't have time to waste looking back on the past,"

"What did you-" Asahi felt his anger build up, however, Haru rested a hand gently on his shoulder as he stepped forwards

"Asahi," Haru warned

"Nanase-kun, wasn't it?" Hiyori sneered "Didn't I tell you last time that Ikuya's a busy guy?"

Haru ignored Hiyori's question, instead asking

"There's no practice today right?"

Hiyori laughed slightly before answering

"There's no practice but he's training on his own. I wish you wouldn't bother him," They could all feel the tense atmosphere surrounding them and Makoto attempted to reduce the tension by choosing his next words carefully. Something didn't seem right with Hiyori but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"We won't do anything to interfere with his training," Makoto tried to reassure Hiyori "We just want to talk to him,"

"If you really have to, can you wait until after he's done with his training, he should be done in about two hours," Hiyori asked, his voice patronising and positive sounding

Haru looked as if he was going to argue however, he stepped back and turned away saying a quick

"Let's just leave. We can talk to Ikuya later,"

Asahi began to argue but was quickly silenced by Haru. Makoto followed the other two wordlessly as they left, leaving a smirking Hiyori behind them.

"'We can talk to Ikuya later' that's what you think. I won't let you take him away from me, you're not going to fill his head with your lies about friendship and teamwork again, you're not going to ruin his chances at swimming on the international level, Nanase," Hiyori muttered to himself as he watched the three leaving, ensuring that they didn't follow him after he turned away. Once they were out of sight, he turned his back and sneered, heading toward the pool where Ikuya would be waiting.  _His_  Ikuya.

 

 

 

Later on, Haru, Makoto and Asahi were sat at a small table in the cafe that Asahi's sister owned, discussing what had happened that day.

"That guy just gives me bad vibes," Asahi muttered angrily, receiving a sympathetic look from Makoto who nodded slightly

"I agree, he acts really strange whenever Ikuya is mentioned,"

Haru had been silent ever since they left Shinozaki academy and he remained silent even as Asahi and Makoto glanced at him.

The table remained silent for a moment before Haru took in a deep breath and began to speak.

"I don't trust him either...." He paused for a second to gather his thoughts before he continued "The other day...when I went back to the pool because I forgot something...I ran into Ikuya on my way.....Hiyori arrived before I managed to talk to him and dragged him away.....Ikuya...didn't seem to want to go though, he seemed like he tried to apologise to me when he left...I don't know what's going on between them but it's giving me a weird feeling,"

"Haru...." Makoto looked at his best friend sympathetically

"Why didn't you tell us?" Asahi's voice was quiet and he avoided eye contact with both Haru and Makoto. Out of the three of them, Asahi had been one of the most excited about reconnecting with old friends and he had also been hit fairly hard with Ikuya's rejection. He had worried tirelessly about the smaller boy since they had all reconnected and Hiyori's possessive and controlling behaviour was doing nothing to help.

"Asahi...I didn't think it was important....not until today..." Haru replied.

The table was silent for a moment before Makoto added in optimistically

"I'm sure we'll work out what's wrong with Ikuya soon. Hiyori can't keep us away from him forever,"

Asahi nodded, his enthusiasm renewed slightly

"Yeah! We have to talk to him. We have to. And we will," Asahi cheered, helping to bring the other two's hopes up slightly as they finished off their drinks.

 

 

 

Ikuya entered the pool area, his head buzzing with the millions of thoughts that were flying around in it. He felt slightly dizzy as his thoughts ran wild however, he put the dizziness down to not eating properly throughout the day, something that had been happening more often than not recently.

As he climbed onto the starting block and dived in, he couldn't seem to get rid of the strange feeling in his chest. Something wasn't right. He shouldn't be thinking of the past this much, Hiyori had told him plenty of times not to and yet he still did. As Hiyori came into his thoughts, he began pushing himself harder, completing the length of the pool before turning and doing the same again. His breaths became heavier and heavier until he began to struggle with his breathing. Fear took over as his vision started to blur

_Damn it..._

_I thought I'd gotten over this......_

The water began growing dark around him as he kept on swimming. He had to keep going. No matter what.

_This again....._

_I guess....I'm just..._

With that last thought, he slipped into unconsciousness, slowly sinking to the bottom of the pool.

"Hey, Kirishima!"

"Did he just sink?"

"What happened"

Various voices filled the air with panic and confusion as Hiyori dove into the pool, pulling Ikuya up from the bottom as staff members rushed to the side of the pool, trying to talk with Hiyori who simply ignored them.

"Ikuya! Ikuya!" Hiyori's voice was loud as he gripped Ikuya's shoulders, holding the smaller boy close to him as he began regaining consciousness.

"H...Hiy...ori..." Ikuya attempted to weakly push Hiyori away, flinching slightly as a loud shout came from the side of the pool.

"Kirishima, no more practice for today, go home and rest," It was their coach speaking to him in a loud voice as he gestured for the two of them to make their way to the side of the pool. Hiyori helped Ikuya to move through the water, a tight grip on his arm silently telling Ikuya how frustrated Hiyori was.

As Ikuya climbed out of the pool, their coach began asking what had happened and if he was alright, however, he was silenced by Hiyori who quickly stated that he would explain everything later.

It was deathly silent as Ikuya followed timidly behind Hiyori towards the changing rooms. The door slammed shut behind them earning a sharp jerk in surprise from Ikuya who's eyes shot up to Hiyori as soon as the brunette began talking, his voice harsh and venomous.

"Hurry up, you're wasting my time as well here,"

Ikuya did nothing but scramble to dry himself off, getting changed as quickly as possible with his current injuries.

No one had questioned or seemed suspicious about the copious amount of bruises, however, Ikuya supposed no one had any reason to be suspicious. Especially not of Hiyori. To everyone else, Hiyori appeared as the incredibly caring friend who wanted nothing more than to protect Ikuya at all costs however, Ikuya knew differently. Ikuya knew the monster that was truly Hiyori. The one that was keeping him trapped by his own fear and insecurity. The one who had taken advantage of him in all his weakest moments so far. The one that Ikuya feared the most in the world.

He had learnt early on in his relationship with Hiyori that he wasn't afraid of conventional things like the dark or spiders. He wasn't afraid of anything. He knew that nothing could ever come close to matching the amount of ice-cold fear that Hiyori sent jolting through his veins.

But this was how it was.

And nothing would change.

No one else deserved to be dragged into this mess because Ikuya was afraid, and he swore to himself that he wouldn't let anyone else suffer because of his own weakness.

"...kuya...Ikuya...Snap out of it, jeez," Hiyori sounded as if he had been speaking or a while and he sounded extremely unimpressed upon finding out that Ikuya hadn't even been listening.

"Come on, we're leaving. I'll walk you back to your dorm and I expect you to stay there. I have some other business to attend to but I'll be back later on and I expect you to be awake when I knock, okay?" Hiyori had grabbed hold of Ikuya's had and had begun leading them back to the dorms.

 

 

 

Upon reaching the dorm, Hiyori unlocked the door using Ikuya's key, gently pushing the other boy inside along with his bag as he spoke.

"Now stay here and be a good boy Ikuya, I would hate to come back and have to punish you....I'll be back in a bit,"

As he finished speaking, Hiyori closed the door to the dorm, locking it once more with Ikuya's key as he left, taking both keys with him so that His Ikuya couldn't escape.

_Stupid Nanase...As if I'd let you talk to Ikuya that easily......You're so foolish_

 

 

 

As Hiyori made his way down to the pool where he had agreed to meet Nanase and his friends, he thought about what had happened today, thinking of all the frustration and anger which needed to be released.

_Ikuya's in for one hell of a night when I get back_

Hiyori spotted the trio immediately, noticing them peering in through the open window and decided to make his presence known. The three of them jumped slightly and turned to face him, the red-haired one, Asahi Hiyori thought his name was, stood up from his previous crouched position and glared daggers at him.

"Ikuya left already," Hiyori began, scowling when he noticed Asahi step closer towards him in an attempt to threaten him.

"He wasn't feeling too well so he cut his practice short," The brunette continued doing nothing but provoke Asahi further. Makoto laid a hand gently on Asahi's arm, reminding him not to get too worked up which Hiyori noticed immediately.

"Glad you have your dog here trained so well," Hiyori provoked with a smirk. Asahi moved to stand up taller in an attempt to threaten Hiyori who simply laughed.

"We could go and visit Ikuya," Makoto suggested lightly "And take him some food and medicine to help him feel better,"

At this Hiyori scoffed

"Yeah right, seeing old friends is the last thing Ikuya need right now, in fact, you're the whole reason he's suffering so much in the first place. Having you all reappear has destroyed his mental state, Jesus, he fainted during practice today because you're all stressing him out so much. Is that really what you want for him? What he deserves?" Hiyori's voice was convincingly full of emotion as Haru and Makoto exchanged a glance between them, one that clearly asked if this was worth it.

"Don't tell me you believe him!" Asahi shouted, losing control of his anger

"Asahi...." Makoto tried to reason.

"No! This isn't right...Ikuya wouldn't be suffering because of us...That's impossible...." Even Asahi didn't seem sure of himself as he became quiet once more.

"Believe what you want but it's true. I'm pretty sure he's been self-harming again as well since you showed up, why can't you realise that you're causing more harm than good?" Hiyori asked, his voice full of desperation

"Please," Haru's quiet voice spoke up "Just let us talk to him, "

An almost ear-splitting laugh sounded out hysterically before Hiyori replied

"Oh Nanase, you know I've heard and learned a lot of things about you," Hiyori stared straight into Haru's eyes as he spoke his next words "Everyone who swims with you ends up suffering somehow, huh?" Haru's eyes widened and Hiyori smirked, knowing he had hit the nail on the head. This would teach Nanase to chase after Ikuya. He asked for this. With that thought, Hiyori turned over his shoulder and left, leaving behind him a dumbfounded Haru and a concerned Makoto and Asahi.

_Everyone who swims with you ends up suffering somehow_

This was the only thought that stuck in Haru's head as he stared after where the brunette previously stood.

 

 

 

The sky had grown grey and dark whilst Hiyori had been out and he struggled slightly to see the keyhole as he reached Ikuya's dorm once more. The room sounded deathly silent behind the door but Hiyori knew that Ikuya was there. He was too afraid to leave him, too afraid to be alone.

The door creaked slightly as Hiyori pushed it open, stepping out into the dark hallway and locking the door again behind him.

"Oh Ikuya, why are all the lights off, isn't it awfully depressing sitting alone in the dark?" Hiyori's voice sounded like he was singing as he called out, hearing shuffling coming from the corner where the bed lay.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't feel like turning the lights on...." Ikuya's voice was small and it only encouraged the brunette even more.

He was going to destroy Ikuya tonight.

As the smaller boy came closer to him, Hiyori flicked the lights on, pulling Ikuya into a tight embrace and catching the smaller off guard. As Ikuya began relaxing into the embrace, Hiyori's fingers slipped into his hair, harshly yanking his head back at an uncomfortable angle, receiving a yelp of pain.

"Now, care to tell me why you're little friends have been looking for you?" Hiyori sneered, earning a whimper from Ikuya

"It hurts-"

"I don't care! What did you tell them?" the brunettes roaring voice cut Ikuya off before he threw the smaller boy onto the floor, his knees colliding hard with the nearby chest of drawers.

Ikuya was silent except for small whimpers and cries

Oh? You're not going to answer me, huh?" Hiyori asked sarcastically "It's okay, I know the perfect way to get you to answer me."

A dark chuckle was followed by the sound of a belt buckle being undone and Ikuya froze. His fight or flight instincts were running wild with the will to run away to safety only, that wasn't possible. It never was or never will be possible. Not for Ikuya anyway.

He knew what was coming but he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't scream or fight or cry for help. He was stuck. As he saw the cold metal buckle swinging down towards him, time seemed to slow down and he could do nothing but choke on his own breath and pray that this would be over soon.

After the first hit, he cried out loudly, dreading the next hit as Hiyori swung his arm back once more, bringing the belt down again with even more force than the first time.

And this is how it continued.

He had no idea how long this continued for, all he knew was he was black and blue and bleeding all over. His head his back, his hands, there wasn't a single place that Hiyori hadn't hit him.

He could feel his head begin to spin once more and figured that this must be the end. He briefly felt a spike of panic which calmed fairly quickly and although he knew he should have been scared or frightened, all he felt was deep relief. It was absolute bliss. Freedom from all this pain was right on the horizon and he couldn't wait to reach it. He reached out towards it as it came closer, closer. Thoughts of freedom were the last coherent ones before his body shut down, his eyes slipping closed gently and his body falling gently to the side.

 

 

 

Hiyori fell back against the wall, his breathing heavy as his arms fell limply down by his sides. As he looked at the damage he had done, he felt a tinge of regret. Such a beautiful person, and all Hiyori wanted was for him to focus on him, solely on him. He couldn't stand the sight anymore, fixing up his appearance slight before he left the dorm, locking the door behind him so that no one else would be able to enter to check on Ikuya.

_What have I done?_


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof shit goes down in this chapter, beware  
> Also this is ridiculously long but oh well  
> Also the end might be a bit rushed but I'm tired as fuck now so I'll probably come back and edit it again later on

_Hands wrapped tightly around his neck, successfully cutting off his oxygen supply, causing his head to feel fuzzy and unclear. Every body part was aching, a sharp twinge of pain shooting into his core anytime he moved. He couldn't see anything, the darkness of the room obstructing his vision. He felt icy cold fear run through his body, paired with adrenaline that begged him to run as fast as possible only he couldn't. His legs refused to move, and he could barely move his torso with the amount of pain shooting through his body._

_A shadow fell over him, increasing his fear by an amount that he didn't even think was possible. He heard the first hit before he even felt it as the unidentifiable figure rained down hits and kicks with no hesitation._

It hurt.

_He had no idea how long this went on for but eventually, he could feel the punches getting weaker, the kicks getting less enthusiastic until eventually, everything stopped._

_The figure stepped away and he could finally see who it was, someone he was incredibly familiar with._

_No words were spoken as the figure walked away, leaving and closing the door behind them, not glancing back once._

_And then he was alone, lying on the floor covered in bruises and his own blood. How did it come to this? What went wrong? His vision began fading out slowly as he stared desperately at the door, wanting nothing else other than for him to come back._

_Ikuya....._

_Please...come back..._

_Why...?_

 

 

 

 

 

Hiyori jolted up in his bed, cold sweat plastering his hair to his forehead as he recalled the scarily vivid dream. He gasped desperately as he tried to regain his breath. What even was that? Why was he dreaming of...that? The adrenaline was beginning to fade from his bloodstream, the fear leaving with it, however, he doubted he would be able to get back to sleep after that.

"It was just a dream...pull yourself together...damn," Hiyori muttered angrily to himself, shaking his head as if to shake the dream out of his head. He threw aside his duvet and got out of bed, heading to the kitchen to make himself a cup of strong coffee. It was almost five in the morning and he didn't need to start getting ready until seven, however, he figured he could use the extra time to go for a shower and catch up on some school work.

Standing under the hot spray from the shower head, Hiyori attempted to clear his head of any thoughts of Ikuya, ignoring the slight feeling of guilt he felt creeping into his head.

He did not feel guilty.

He couldn't. It was too late.

And besides, everything he had done up to this point had a reason.

It was Ikuya's own fault for being so infuriating.

Yeah....that's what it was...

The water eventually began to get cold and Hiyori realised how long he had spent in the shower. Getting out quickly after turning off the water, he wrapped a towel around his waist, heading to his bedroom. His phone was lying on his bed vibrating and so, he turned it over, seeing Natsuya's name on the screen. A loud sigh escaped his mouth as he hit the decline button. He couldn't speak to Natsuya, not after what he had done. Another sigh escaped him as he felt the guilt start to build up again.

He ignored the feeling as he began getting ready for his day. He considered texting Ikuya to meet him later in order to reduce this feeling of guilt however, he wasn't sure whether Ikuya would want to see him after what he had done. Weighing up the pros and cons, he decided upon sending a text to see if Ikuya was coming to practice today. If he replied, at least it would calm some of Hiyori's nerves. After writing out a quick text, he checked the time and decided upon doing some of his homework to pass the time.

 

 

 

 

 

Ikuya awoke to agonising pain running down his spine, letting out a loud cry in pain as he tried to move. He didn't remember falling asleep so he must have passed out from exhaustion at some point. His memories of the previous night were slightly fuzzy however, he remembered Hiyori's anger. The pure anger that made Ikuya freeze with fear.

He vaguely remembered hearing the door to his dorm slam closed as he lay of the floor injured before he heard the key in the lock, signalling that Hiyori wasn't coming back.

"I'm sorry...." Ikuya mumbled into thin air. He didn't know who he was apologising to or why he was apologising but he felt it was necessary. He felt shame wash over him in great waves, crashing down onto a beach with huge amounts of force. He shouldn't have let this happen. He should have stopped Hiyori. He was stronger than this.  _No, he wasn't_. He was weak. Too weak to even leave Hiyori, too weak to tell anyone, too weak to fight against Hiyori.

"Yeah...." His voice was raspy as he spoke into thin air "I am weak...So fucking pathetic...."

He lay back down again, deciding against trying to move for now as he let his eyes slip closed once more, attempting to fight off the pounding headache he could feel building up with every passing second

It was a while later that Ikuya heard his phone's ringtone go off, signalling that he had a text off someone. He struggled to try and stand up to get it, his back protesting and his legs shaking with every movement. He somehow managed to walk over to the table where his phone was before he let his legs collapse underneath him. He ended up sat uncomfortably at the table as he unlocked his phone, feeling bile rising in his throat as he saw who had sent the message.

_Hiyori_

There was an acidic taste in his mouth as his stomach churned uncomfortably. He attempted to rush to the toilet, feeling the need to throw up what little food he had eaten the previous day. He stumbled through his dorm, pain rushing through every inch of his body, doing nothing to help the nausea he was currently feeling. He eventually reached the toilet, immediately dropping to his bruised knees and emptying his stomach.

Once he was done, he leaned back, curling himself into a ball against the wall, loud, violent sobs escaping him as the pain in his back and his knees increased. Upon further inspection, he realised that his knees were both bruised and fairly swollen where they had been hit. There was also a deep looking cut on the back of one of his knees which appeared to have opened up again.

He thought about the message Hiyori had sent about whether he was going to practice or not and he figured that it was more of an order than a question. He couldn't practice like this. Maybe Hiyori would understand? He doubted it but it was worth a try. He would have to go down to the pool anyway in order to tell their coach that he was injured so he couldn't practice.

It was almost time for him to head down to the pool anyway and so, he dragged himself away from the bathroom, flushing the toilet before he limped out of the room, immediately heading to the kitchen to grab some painkillers and a glass of water.

Getting dressed appeared to be a harder task than Ikuya had first thought. He couldn't bend his knees properly without a sharp pain jolting down his leg and he couldn't lift his arms up properly in order to put a t-shirt on.

After an awfully long time, he managed to get himself dressed with a great amount of pain. His t-shirt rubbed uncomfortably against the open wounds on his back and his knees barely supported him as he began walking towards the door to his dorm. His head ached whenever he moved and the bright lights out in the hallway after he had unlocked the door did nothing to help. He squinted as he attempted to lock the door with shaking hands.

His walk down to the pool was slower than usual due to the immense pain running all over his body however, he eventually made it only a couple of minutes after practice had started. Upon seeing Ikuya limp into the pool area, their coach rushed over to him, bombarding him with questions about where he had been and why he was late. His angry sounding voice made Ikuya flinch slightly which the older man seemed to notice as he immediately asked a quiet.

"Is everything alright, Kirishima?"

Ikuya responded with a weak attempt at a smile as he nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I've just...I fell yesterday and injured my knee. I can't practice today,"

After hearing Ikuya's brief explanation, their coach began fussing over him, asking what he had done to treat it and what had happened, to which Ikuya lied by saying he had been stupid and had fallen on the stairs up to the dorms.

Ikuya decided he should probably wait for Hiyori and so, he sat at the side of the pool, focusing on nothing in particular as he waited for practice to finish.

After another hour and a half, the practice had finished and Ikuya was in the changing rooms with the rest of the team, repeatedly explaining his lie about what had happened.

H could feel Hiypri's sharp glare trained on him and it made his heart race, knowing that one wrong move could ruin everything. A loud voice interrupted his thoughts as one of his teammates began talking.

"Kirishima, you up for karaoke? You haven't heard me sing yet have you?"

"He does a dance while yodelling you know," Another teammate piped up as they continued joking around for another few minutes

"Come on join us, it'll make you feel better," Another person added.

"Sorry, I can't today," Ikuya looked away as he said this. Hiyori would be mad if he agreed to go. best not to anger him anymore. With this thought, Ikuya left, Hiyori attempting to follow behind him, however, he was stopped by their coach wanting to discuss his times. Hiyori quickly thought up an excuse to leave and followed after Ikuya, attempting to catch up to him.

"Ikuya, wait!" Hiyori called as he saw Ikuya limping ahead of him.

Ikuya stopped dead where he stood, frozen with fear as Hiyori's voice sent shivers down his spine.

"Ikuya," Hiyori caught up to the shorter boy, placing a hand gently on his shoulder, causing Ikuya to immediately tense up in fear and pain as Hiyori's hand brushed against an open wound "Ikuya, I'm sorry about last night. I'm sorry baby, I messed up and I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you,"

Alarm bells rung loudly in Ikuya's head and he pulled away from Hiyori's hand, shaking his head.

"No....No you're not...You're never sorry" Ikuya spat bitterly, knowing he was risking everything by saying this.

"Ikuya," Hiyori's tone was filled with warning and Ikuya shivered as he stared directly into Hiyori's eyes, feeling his anger building up.

"I need to go. don't follow me," Ikuya said, turning to leave.

Hiyori went to follow after him however, Ikuya stopped once more, turning to Hiyori as his anger exploded

"I said don't follow me!" His eyes were wide with anger and fear as he stared back at Hiyori who stood shocked as Ikuya turned to leave once more.

"Oh Ikuya, you're getting too confident aren't you, and to think I thought last night would've broken you, we'll see," Hiyori muttered angrily to himself, highly unimpressed by Ikuya's newfound confidence.

As he watched Ikuya's retreating form, he laughed quietly, turning around to leave. They could always talk later.....

 

 

Hiyori sat alone in a cafe that he frequented with Ikuya. It was a quiet little cafe on a street corner just outside the main shopping centre. The atmosphere there always helped to calm Hiyori when Ikuya was being particularly frustrating with all his talk about Nanase however, it didn't seem to be working as well today, his frustration only growing.

_What can I do to make him see...he needs me...without me he's nothing..._

A mother sat near him with her daughter began reading a book to the young child, immediately catching Hiyori's attention. The little mermaid. Ikuya's favourite book. As he sat and listened, he realised more how his situation with Ikuya related to the one in the story.

Hiyori saved Ikuya however, Nanase came along and now he's all Ikuya thinks about. Hiyori gripped his glass harder, his knuckles turning white as his anger built up more.

He couldn't stand to sit their anymore, figuring that some fresh air would help him to calm himself down. He stood up and left the small building, walking back in the direction of the university campus.

_That's right,_

_The prince, no Ikuya, still has no idea..._

_no idea that I'm the one who saved him, the one whos helping him to become better,_

_Of course, he doesn't know..._

Hiyori decided to head to Ikuya's dorm in search of him and so, he headed e towards the familiar building, fishing out the key that had remained in his pocket from the previous night. He felt the guilt grip him slightly once more as he squeezed his hand closed around the key, the spikes of it digging into his palm.

_He deserves this_

_I'm helping him_

_Yeah...helping..._

_That's all..._

 

 

 

 

It was a surprise to Asahi and Haru to get a random call of Makoto telling them to meet him at Asahi's sister's cafe, however, upon entering the cosy cafe, they immediately realised why Makoto had called them.

Nao sat opposite Makoto at one of the tables and he smiled at them as soon as he recognised the two of them. They sat down at the table with them and were immediately catching up with their former coach.

"It's been so long! You guys have really grown up," Nao commented with a pleasant smile "You look a lot tougher now," He commented, turning to Asahi "Have you been well?" He turned to the whole group again, to which everyone answered saying how they had been as Asahi's sister appeared with their drinks.

"So I heard you knew Asahi in middle school," Asahi's sister commented with a grin "I bet he was constantly causing trouble, huh?"

"I'm not a kid anymore!" Asahi whined as his sister laughed

"You don't get so depressed anymore then?" Nao asked a small grin on his face too.

"Just forget about that already!" Asahi practically begged, causing everyone to chuckle. The atmosphere drastically changed however when Nao asked

"What's Ikuya up to? Have you kept in touch with him?"

The question was innocent enough, however, with everything that had happened with Ikuya recently, it created a sombre mood around the table

"We saw him at a college newcomers tournament recently for the first time in years," Makoto explained

"Oh really?" Nao seemed happy at the response until he glanced around and noticed the expressions on the three boys faces "What's wrong?"

"It seemed like Ikuya hasn't been doing so well recently," Makoto tried to explain. He didn't want to reveal their suspicions about Hiyori as they had no proof however it was tempting. Nao would know what to do in this situation. Nao always knew what to do

"Did something happen?" Nao asked, his voice now filled with concern

"It's my fault," Haru stated, not meeting the eyes of anyone around the table, "Ikuya's teammate told me, that everyone who swims with me ends up suffering..."

"Come on, that's not true!" Asahi protested loudly "Makoto and I haven't suffered at all,"

"We're trying to figure out what to do but..." Makoto began to explain but trailed off

"You can't just go and talk to him?" Nao seemed confused and so Makoto continued his explanation

"Toono-kun...Ikuya's teammate...He doesn't seem to want Ikuya seeing Haru...He seems a bit...controlling, I guess," Makoto finished, seeing Nao's concerned expression.

"Hmm, I guess if he's not letting you see Ikuya, there's not a lot you can do but hope that nothing serious is going on, but..I'll try and get in contact with Natsuya-kun, I'll see if he knows anything," Nao offered

"We....we have suspicions about what could be going on but....we don't want to assume, but thank you Nao," Makoto smiled gratefully.

"No problem, I just want the best for you all, Ikuya included," Nao responded. With that, they all left one by one to go to classes or practice or to do other various things.

 

 

 

 

 

Natsuya had been working out in his room when he had heard his phone began ringing. He got his hopes up, thinking it would be Ikuya ringing him back from the other night, however, he was surprised when Nao's name flashed up on the screen.

"Hey," Natsuya greeted casually

"Hey," Nao responded, "You've not heard anything about Ikuya have you?" Nao's question caught Natsuya off guard as he replied asking why he was asking.

"I met up with Haru, Makoto and Asahi earlier, apparently they've not been able to talk to Ikuya because of one of his teammates. They seem pretty concerned about him but I've not got any more details," Nao explained briefly

"Oh, I've not heard anything...I tried calling him the other day but I had no reply. Any ideas who this teammate is?" Natsuya asked, his mind filled with worst case scenarios.

"Toono-kun, I think they said if that helps at all,"

Natsuya squinted slightly, why would Hiyori stop people from talking to Ikuya, it made no sense.

"Yeah...I know who that is. Are you sure they got it right? Hiyori wouldn't do anything to hurt Ikuya," Natsuya questioned, unable to think of any reasons why Hiyori would act like that

"They seemed pretty certain about it, they might have gotten it wrong though I suppose," Nao suggested.

"Yeah, I'll check it out anyway but I'm sure Hiyori wouldn't do that, he's a good guy. He's done nothing but look after Ikuya whilst I've been gone," Natsuya smiled fondly at the thought of his brother.

"I wasn't sure what to think when they told me before but I'm less worried now if you trust this Hiyori guy with Ikuya he can't be that bad," Nao laughed.

The phone call lasted a while longer before the two said their goodbyes with a promise to, meet up at some point now that Natsuya was back. Natsuya leaned back against the wall behind him, thinking about what he had heard.

_Surely there was just a misunderstanding..._

_There has to be..._

 

 

 

 

Hiyori reached Ikuya's dorm, trying the door handle to find that the door was locked. Fishing the key out of his pocket again, he unlocked the door, entering the room before closing the door behind him.

"Ikuya!" He called out into the empty room. It was deathly silent however, Hiyori still decided to check every room just in case he had hidden. When he found the entire dorm empty, he decided to go and search for Ikuya elsewhere.

He had been walking around for around 10 minutes before he came to a familiar park. He had spent many nights early on in their days at Shimogami university sat here with Ikuya, talking until the sun rose. As he rounded the corner to where the gate was, he spotted a familiar figure sat at the top of the slide, staring up at the bright stars overhead.

"Ikuya," A sharp flinch was earned as Hiyori spoke and Ikuya froze, his arms curling tighter around his legs "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Ikuya responded, wanting to speak to Hiyori as little as possible

"Clearly it's something. Come down from there and we'll go home," Hiyori's voice was commanding as he spoke, causing a shiver to run down Ikuya's spine

"I don't want to go anywhere with you," Ikuya spoke through gritted teeth as he felt his own anger building up. Everything still hurt but his anger overcame any rational thought as he began arguing with the brunette.

"Ikuya," Hiyori's voice held a warning tone "Stop being difficult and come on, it's getting late," Hiyori sounded angry but for once Ikuya didn't feel the familiar rush of fear, he simply felt empty.

"No. I'm not going anywhere with you when all you do is control everything I do and beat me up for the tiniest of mistakes! I'm not going to carry on letting to control who I can see and when! I'm not going to let you carry on hurting me so that I have to cover it up at practice! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you, Hiyori!" Ikuya was frantically shouting now, his eyes wide with fear, knowing he was risking his life right now. Hiyori had the power to kill him if he so wanted, Ikuya was just adding fuel to the fire that was Hiyori's anger.

A hand shot out to grip his wrist tightly, pulling him down to the bottom of the slide before another hand came down hard on the side of his face, the punch hitting him right under his eye.

Ikuya simply stared, his gaze cold and stony as he looked at the monster he used to consider his best friend.

"Get. Off. Me." Ikuya said, his voice shaking slightly as he spoke " Get the hell off me! I swear to god Hiyori, I don't want to but if I have to I will fight back this time!"

"Shut the hell up!" Hiyori roared, his hand coming down on Ikuya's face once more, the loud slap ringing out in the empty park.

Ikuya stood up slowly, barely able to feel the pain in his knees as he stood in front of Hiyori, his gaze stuck to the floor.

Hiyori smirked, seeing this as Ikuya giving up. The grip he had on Ikuya's wrist released and Ikuya simply stood there.

For a few seconds, time seemed to stop as Ikuya contemplated his next words.

"Hiyori," The brunette stared intrigued at Ikuya "I'm not going to sit down and take this anymore! You have ruined my life, dragged me through Hell and back and still think you have the right to call yourself my best friend? You sicken me," Ikuya spat, pulling his phone discreetly out of his pocket. He sidestepped away from Hiyori so that he was no longer trapped between the slide and the monster he had previously called his friend.

"Ikuya, don't you fucking dare try and run," Hiyori warmed with a hard glare.

Ikuya laughed hysterically, holding his phone up for Hiyori to see the screen as he backed away.

"If you take one step closer to me, I will call the police, don't you fucking dare Hiyori," Ikuya warned as Hiyori attempted to follow him.

Hiyori's arms dropped to his sides as his gaze fell to the floor.

"Oh, you're gonna get me arrested? And what are you gonna tell them? This is all your fault anyway, Ikuya, you caused this, you only have yourself to blame," Hiyori laughed almost psychotically.

Before either of them even realised what was happening, Ikuya was running. The pain in his knees now non-existent due to the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He ran and ran as if his life depended on it which it kind of did at this moment in time.

He was sure Hiyori was trying to follow him however, he was luckily always faster than Hiyori when running. His heart felt as if it was going to explode out of his chest due to the fear and adrenaline rushing throughout his body.

He had no idea where he was going exactly, he only knew he had to get away, had to get far away, He couldn't go back to his dorm, not when Hiyori had a key. He would be dead by the morning if he even considered that. And so, he carried on running, turning as many corners as possible in order to lose Hiyori. He knew that he was lost himself when he didn't recognise any shops, however, he knew he was safer here, somewhere that Hiyori didn't know.

As he began o slow down, his entire body shook with fear and adrenaline as he frantically looked around at his surroundings, hoping to find a cafe that was open late. To his luck, there was a brightly illuminated sign pointing to a 24-hour cafe and so, he headed over, entering and quietly ordering some tea to try and calm his nerves which were aflame with fear.

Knowing he had to find somewhere to go, he pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he found who he was looking for.

The phone rung three times before it was answered by a groggy sounding voice.

"Ikuya? What are you doing awake at this time? You have practice tomorrow right?" the voice asked, sounding confused by the unexpected phone call

"Help...Natsuya...Please" Ikuya whimpered quietly "He's gonna kill me if he finds me...I don't know where to go....."

Natsuya was suddenly wide awake as he heard the pure unadulterated fear in his brother's voice.

"Ikuya! What happened? Who's going to kill you? Where are you?"

"Hiyori...Don't know where I am...can't explain...not here...not now...It hurts....." Ikuya was sobbing now, unable to control his emotions any longer

"Ikuya, I need you to calm down okay? Do you know whereabouts you are? You're still in Tokyo aren't you?" Natsuya asked, his heart racing as he went to wake his parents up and inform them of the situation.

"Yeah....still in T...Tokyo..." Ikuya sniffled, pulling his hood over his head to conceal his face

"Crap, It'll be hours before I could get to you, Is there anyone else you know who lives nearby?" Natsuya was conflicted on what to do, he could go and find Ikuya but that could take almost 5 hours at least, that was too long for him to be alone in this state.

"...No...Only Haru...and Makoto...and Asahi... I don't know where about they are though...." Ikuya choked out. His only friends at the moment and he had no way to contact them and hadn't spoken to them in years.

"Ikuya, I need you to try and breath deeply okay? Are you somewhere safe?"

Ikuya nodded regardless of the fact that Natsuya couldn't see him before mumbling a quiet 'yes'

"Right, I'm going to call a couple of people, I'm going to try and find out where Haru, Makoto or Asahi are, are you okay on your own for a minute?" Natsuya asked gently, not wanting to leave Ikuya alone but also knowing that he had to find somewhere for his brother to go.

"...Yeah....I'll be fine....I've dealt with it before....just promise you'll ring back.....please...." Ikuya mumbled once more

A sharp gasp sounded on the other end of the phone as Natsuya heard Ikuya say this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"Okay, I promise you I'll ring you back as soon as I possibly can, are you sure you're somewhere safe?" Natsuya asked, his voice filled to the brim with concern

"Yeah...I'm in a cafe....I'll be fine...Just hurry please...." Ikuya sounded so small it broke Natsuya's heart as he said a final goodbye, hanging up and immediately ringing Nao's number, praying that he would be able to help.

Nao answered immediately as if sensing the desperation of the situation and after being informed of what Natsuya had found out, he immediately sent Natsuya Makoto's phone number which he had gotten earlier that day.

Natsuya wasted no time in ringing the other number, praying that Makoto would answer.

A sleepy-sounding voice answered the phone and Natsuya immediately leapt into an explanation, resulting in a very panicked Makoto.

It took a while to explain everything but Makoto didn't hesitate to write down Ikuya's phone number when Natsuya read it out and also gave Natsuya his address for Ikuya, saying that he'd wait until Ikuya got there and would call or text him as soon as Ikuya arrived.

It wasn't long before Natsuya was back on the phone with Ikuya, explaining to him to get a taxi to Makoto's apartment. Ikuya was still panicked when Natsuya called again however, he was no longer sobbing which was a relief to Natsuya who's heart wrenched whenever he heard the whimpered sobs.

Natsuya promised to stay on the phone with Ikuya throughout the taxi ride and within an hour, the taxi was pulling up in front of a large apartment complex. Ikuya's knees were now hurting much more than before as a result of his frantic running and his phone kept vibrating with messages and missed calls from Hiyori. His panic had gradually returned as he got closer to Makoto's apartment, dread bubbling up inside him as he thought of how he'd explain everything. He was pretty sure his eye had bruised and swelled up slightly since Hiyori hit him but so far neither the waitress in the cafe or the taxi driver had questioned it which Ikuya was glad about.

He stepped out of the taxi with great effort, staring up at the tall building as a wave of nausea passed over him. He felt sick and dizzy as he thought of seeing his middle school friends in this state and he almost turned around to go back, however, Natsuya's encouraging voice on the phone reassured him enough for him to force himself to walk painfully towards the main entrance.

Upon entering, he was greeted by Makoto immediately rushing over to him, frantically worrying about him and asking if he was okay. Ikuya sai goodbye to Natsuya as they hung up and Makoto immediately led him to the lift to get to his apartment, stating that "He shouldn't be walking around, even if it was only one flight of stairs"

Ikuya stood awkwardly as they entered Makoto's apartment until the brunette broke the silence with a quiet

"I know you have more injuries than just a black eye.....You don't have to but if you'd let me look at them I could try and treat some of them,"

Ikuya stared in disbelief, not knowing how to react to the kindness after experiencing so much pain and cruelty.

"I...I don't know..." Ikuya mumbled, immediately hearing Makoto apologising for pushing him too far. Ikuya had to interrupt with a mumbled "It's not that, I just...I don't know if you'd be able to do anything with any of them....they're....I'm not sure if they're treatable....but you can try I guess....."

Ikuya was unsure as he struggled to pull his t-shirt over his head, hearing Makoto's gentle offer to help him which he gratefully took.

Makoto took one look at Ikuya's back, his eyes growing wide at the horrific sight. Blood and bruised skin was all he could see, not a single bit of undamaged flesh in sight. Ikuya squeezed his eyes closed out of fear and anxiousness as Makoto breathed out a quiet

_"Holy shit Ikuya....I'm so sorry....."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well my heart was actually racing writing the ending of this chapter, I feel bad for making him suffer so much but it'll start to get better from here I promise


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I'm planning maybe hopefully four or five more chapters for this story, I have two written out but they need some serious editing before being uploaded but I'm hoping to update this every week until it's finished which is why I'm trying to pre-write chapters weeks before they need to be uploaded.
> 
> Hopefully this will be finished around the start of March? Hopefully.....
> 
> :)))))))

Makoto stared in utter disbelief at the mess of cuts and bruises covering Ikuya's back. He knew for sure that he couldn't treat them himself, especially as a couple of the deep cuts looked like they could be infected, yellow and inflamed, standing out against the pale skin around them. After snapping out of his shocked daze, Makoto sprung into action, rushing towards the kitchen of the apartment to grab an ice pack and a towel for the rapidly darkening bruise covering Ikuya's left eye. When he returned, Ikuya's legs were visibly shaking from the strain of running earlier when his knees were already injured. Upon noticing this, Makoto asked gently

"Can you sit down?"   
Ikuya nodded somewhat stifly, holding back a cry of pain as he attempted to sit down, his bruised and swollen knees protesting. After successfully sitting down, a small whimper escaped Ikuya's mouth which didn't go unnoticed by Makoto who immediately asked what was wrong.   
"My knees...they really hurt..." Ikuya winced once more as Makoto asked if he was okay to see how bad they were.   
After recieving permission from Ikuya, he gently pushed up the legs of Ikuya's pants, revealing yet another horrific sight.   
Ikuya's knees were black and blue all over, there wasn't a single spot untouched and, upon further inspection, Makoto noticed a long open gash on the back of his knee. There was blood dried on the back of Ikuya's leg and Makoto wanted nothing more than to magically remove all of his injuries however, they both knew that it would be impossible. Makoto quickly decided on a course of action, asking in a quiet, calm voice;   
"Ikuya, can I call an ambulance for you? I know you probably don't want to go to the hospital but I really do think it's the best idea right now," the brunette what he'd Ikuya's face for any sort of reaction before he continued. "I really don't think I can treat these properly and I'd hate for them to cause more problems in future....if....if they ask about how it happened, y...you don't have to report it to the police if you don't want to....as much as I hope it's reported, if you don't want to, no one is going to force y..."   
Makoto was cut off by Ikuya   
"No... I'm done...I'll report it...he knows where I live, where my family lives, heck he probably knows where you, Haru and Asahi live....I...I don't want him to go after anyone else because of me....and besides....he really made a mess didn't he...who knows how I actually got away with my knees in this state..." Ikuya trailed off at the end of his sentence, staring down and his hands which were clenched together tightly. Makoto gave a sympathetic smile and took Ikuya's hands into his own.   
"I promise, he's not going to do anything to hurt you ever again, I want to make sure of that,"   
Ikuya felt tears forming in his eyes upon hearing this, whispering a quiet 'thank you' as Makoto rushed to grab another two ice packs along with some painkillers, a drink and a first aid kit.   
Upon returning to Ikuya, Makoto quickly gave him the glass of water with the painkillers before dialling the emergency services number and asking for an ambulance. He held the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he gently placed the ice packs on Ikuya's knees before routing around in the first aid kit for some antiseptic wipes. After being informed that an ambulance was on its way, Makoto hung up the phone, turning his attention towards cleaning a couple of the smaller cuts and scrapes, letting Ikuya squeeze his free hand as the antiseptic stung the open wounds. 

 

Time passes by in a blur with Makoto helping out with everything he could before the ambulance arrived and paramedics began assessing Ikuya's injuries before thinking of the best way to move him to the ambulance.   
In practically no time at all, Ikuya was in the ambulance along with Makoto who sent a quick text to Natsuya to explain the current situation.   
Once they reached the hospital, Ikuya was first taken in to have the cuts on his back cleaned and to have stitches put in them whilst Makoto waited in the waiting area. Whilst he waited, Makoto couldn't help his knee bouncing rapidly, showing his concern and anxiety at the current situation. He had received another text from Natsuya saying that he would be getting the first train to Tokyo the next morning.   
Ikuya was uncertain at first when the doctor asked Makoto to wait outside, although he knew he was only outside, he suddenly felt alone. Sickeningly alone. The doctor helped him to remove his shirt and lie down on the bed in the middle of the room covered in crisp paper. Upon gaining a proper look at Ikuya's back, the doctor grimaced.   
"Can I ask how this happened? I know it's probably a sensitive topic but I'd like to ensure that they're treated properly and make sure you're going to be safe once you return home," the doctor was cautious as he asked this, already suspecting that this was the result of abuse however, he knew better than to assume he knew what was going on, having to ask to find out the full story. From what he'd been told when he had arrived, the boy had multiple more injuries that would need to be treated as well, however, his main concern at the moment was stitching up the deep cuts.   
"A...friend....boyfriend...ex-boyfriend...H..he...uh...he hit me...w..with...with his belt...." Ikuya struggled to get the words out, feeling his breathing becoming laboured.   
"Kirishima-kun, I need you to try and breathe deeply," the doctor tried to direct however when it didn't appear to work, he asked   
"The person who came in the ambulance with you, is he a friend or is he your ex-boyfriend? Do you think he could help to calm you down?"   
Ikuya nodded breathlessly before gasping out   
"Yeah...h..he's...a friend..."

The doctor quickly stuck his head out of the door, asking Makoto to come in before explaining the situation.   
Makoto made his way over to Ikuya, gently placing a hand on Ikuya's head, murmuring gently to him and coaxing him to breathe slowly. It took a couple of minutes but eventually, Ikuya managed to calm down enough for the doctor to approach again, thanking Makoto and asking Ikuya whether he'd like him to stay. The smaller male nodded as much as he could whilst led on his stomach and the doctor gently asked if he had any other injuries.   
"My knees...I fell and hit them....well...w..was pushed...." Ikuya spoke quietly, managing to stay calm for to Makoto's comforting hand running through his hair and the other one held tightly within Ikuya's own.   
The doctor finished making a couple of notes before explaining that he was going to start cleaning the cuts and stitching them up.   
Ikuya flinched as the antiseptic stung however, he simply grasped Makoto's hand tighter, trying to ignore what the doctor was doing.   
There were 7 cuts that were deep enough to need stitches, however, the doctor meticulously cleaned the others, cleaning the dried blood off Ikuya's back around the cuts.   
"I'm going to suggest that you put some ice on your back at least twice a day to help with the bruising and to ensure no swelling occurs but before we do that, we're going to x-ray your knees to try and see if there's anything major wrong or if it's just swelling and bruising,"   
Ikuya nodded in response before the doctor asked.   
"Have there been any times that your head has been hit in the past 3 or so weeks?"   
At this, Ikuya thought back, trying to recall if anything had happened.

"I think there might have been one time...last week possibly...I'm not too sure..." Ikuya offered, unable to distinguish between the many brutal attacks from Hiyori.

"I'm going to send some instructions back with you to monitor for signs of a concussion and if any symptoms occur, you should come back immediately. As you said you think it was last week, I think you should be okay but I'd like to be sure" The doctor explained, grabbing a pair of crutches and passing them to Ikuya, adjusting the height before they moved to a different room down the hallway where x-rays were taken.

After the x-rays were taken, Ikuya and Makoto were led to a small room where they were asked to wait for the doctor to return to discuss what was going to happen.

The same doctor from earlier returned, holding the x-rays of Ikuya's knees in one hand.

"Okay, the good news is that neither of your knees are broken, but they are severely bruised. They'll need to be iced every 3 to 4 hours for around 20 minutes and you should try to rest as much as possible and keep weight off your knee. If you're sitting or lying down, it's best for you to elevate your knee to prevent swelling. As for your other injuries, your stitches will need to be taken out in 7 to 10 days so we'll make you a follow up appointment for that. You'll also need to take a course of antibiotics to help fight off the infections in some of the wounds. I've also prescribed some painkillers to be taken every six hours which should help. I'll have all of this written down for you before you leave but I'll explain everything now as well." The doctor explained, briefly being interrupted by Ikuya who asked a quiet

"How long until I can swim..?"

The doctor seemed slightly thrown off by the question before he gave a sympathetic smile and answered

"Unfortunately, your knees will take around 3 weeks to heal so no strenuous activity until then and even then, you should be careful and stop if anything hurts. I think after 3 weeks your back should be healed enough too but if anything opens up again, you must stop immediately,"

Ikuya nodded, slumping back in his seat slightly, dissappointment clear on his face. Makoto placed a gentle hand on the smaller males shoulder, trying to comfort him slightly which appeared to relax him slightly.

"If you're willing to, the police would like to talk to you as well," Ikuya tensed up once more, eyes going wide "You don't have to if you'd prefer not to report it however, it's entirely your choice."

Ikuya nodded stiffly, avoiding eye contact with the doctor as he asked once more

"Are you entirely sure? No one's going to force you to say or not say anything?"

Again Ikuya nodded, this time more confidently as he grasped Makoto's hand once more to ground himself.

"I have to...He'll hurt other people if I don't..." Ikuya mumbled quietly, glancing to Makoto who sat beside him. The brunette threw him a reassuring smile and a small nod.

"Alright, if you both wait here then for just a minute," the doctor then left the room, leaving the two of them alone with their thoughts.

"It's all going to be okay, I promise you," Makoto said to the shorter male beside him.

"Yeah...Yeah...I know....D..do you know who else knows what's going on..?" Ikuya asked uncertainly, anxiety bubbling in his chest.

"I've not told anyone so as far as I know, it's just me and Natsuya-senpai who know. I know I'm not going to tell anyone else unless you want me to and I'm sure your brother's thinking the same thing," Makoto reassured gently.

At that moment, two friendly but stern police officers entered the room, making their way over to the two boys and introducing themselves. Ikuya froze upon seeing the two uniformed officers, remembering what they were here for.

Makoto, upon feeling Ikuya tense up next to him, began stroking his arm in a caring manner, telling him that everything was okay and that he wouldn't be forced to say anything he didn't want to.

Ikuya soon relaxed slightly however, he was still on edge as the police officers sat down opposite them, gentle smiles upon their faces.   
"Kirishima Ikuya, right?" one of the police officers checked, to which Ikuya nodded   
"Can you tell us what events happened before you came here?" one of the officers asked carefully.   
Ikuya took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly before he began to explain, appreciating Makoto's comforting presence.

The two officers made notes as he spoke, pausing every now and then to keep his breathing as calm as possible.   
The officers continued asking questions like   
"Has this happened before?" "How long has it been happening?" "Has there been any sexual assault?"

At this question, Ikuya froze. He knew he should answer, he knew they were only asking so that Hiyori could be brought to justice however he couldn't get the words out past the lump in his throat. His eyes stung with unshed tears and he gripped Makoto's hand hard as he tried to calm himself enough to answer.   
"It's okay if you can't answer verbally or in detail, could you nod or shake your head for us?" This time the other police officer spoke and Ikuya nodded frantically, wanting nothing more than for this question to be over.

After Makoto managed to calm Ikuya down once more, the police officers finished their questioning before thanking them for their cooperation and leaving the room. The doctor returned, telling them that when they were ready to leave, they needed to sign some paperwork at the reception and so, the two made their way back towards the entrance, waiting at the reception to collect the paperwork in silence.   
"Are you alright?" Makoto asked quietly, seeing Ikuya's exhausted expression. The shorter boy nodded tiredly, taking the paperwork and the pen that was held out to him.   
"I'm just tired.... exhausted...It's been a long day...." Ikuya replied   
Makoto nodded in understanding, as Ikuya quickly filled in the paperwork before handing it back to the reception staff who checked over it, ensuring that he'd filled in everything needed before filing the sheet away and thanking him.   
Upon joining Makoto again, they left the hospital. Waiting for a bus that would take them near to Makoto's apartment.   
Makoto helped Ikuya onto the bus, struggling due to the crutches however, they were soon seated on the bus heading back to the apartment.   
They reached the stop nearest Makoto's apartment, exiting the bus and beginning to walk.   
"We'll put some ice on your knees and your back when we get in okay?" Makoto asked caringly. He wasn't entirely sure how to comfort the other male but he knew he had to try as hard as possible.   
"Yeah..." Ikuya responded in a distant tone, his thoughts elsewhere.   
"Your brother said he was coming to Tokyo first thing in the morning, he should be here around 12," The brunette added as they reached his apartment. He pulled out his key, pushing it into the lock and turning it to unlock the door. After swinging the door open, he led Ikuya inside, offering him a seat as he asked if he'd like some tea or something to eat.   
Ikuya politely refused and Makoto returned with multiple ice packs, offering two of them to Ikuya and placing the rest on the table for a second whilst he turned on the TV.   
"Hold those on your knees and I'll put some on your back," Makoto smiled before adding "What do you wanna watch?"   
Ikuya gave a small shrug and replied   
"I don't mind, I'm too tired to pay attention anyway,"   
Makoto nodded in understanding, putting on a random movie that was on TV.   
He then set about setting up the fold out bed on the sofa, offering Ikuya his bed as he was injured.   
The smaller boy refused profusely, stating that Makoto had already helped him way too much tonight before adding quietly   
"It's not as if I even deserve it..."   
The sound was so faint that he barely heard it but it was there, the sad faraway voice speaking sounding nothing like the cheerful Ikuya Makoto remembered from middle school.   
"Ikuya, that's not true at all," Makoto sat down next to him, taking a pale hand into his own and looking into deep brown eyes.   
"Sorry..." Again the voice sounded small and scared and it shattered Makoto's heart.   
Ikuya had always been nothing but kind and caring to everyone although he seemed a little cold at first, and he couldn't think for the life of him how someone could possibly hurt the smaller male next to him.   
He tried to think of a way to cheer him up slightly and came up blank, however, inspiration struck him as he caught sight of the movie playing in the corner of his eye.   
"Give me one second, I'll go and get some blankets and pillows and then we can watch a film together," Makoto smiled gently, watching the other nod in agreement, having long since given up arguing.

When Makoto returned into the room, he had armfuls of blankets, duvets, pillows and cushions which he arranged carefully over the bed before picking up the dvd he had brought.   
The shiny disk was placed in the dvd player and the main menu appeared on the screen. The brunette pressed play on the screen before sitting behind Ikuya with two ice packs in his hands.   
"Please tell me if I hurt you, it's gonna be pretty cold," He warned before placing it onto the bruised skin that had been exposed when Ikuya removed his shirt.   
The smaller male flinched away slightly as the ice touched his skin, biting his tongue to deal with the cold sensation.   
"Is this okay?" Makoto asked worriedly, to which Ikuya nodded.   
"I don't think I'm going to be able to stay awake to watch this honestl..." The brown eyed boy got cut off by his own yawn, feeling tiredness was over him.   
"It's okay, go to sleep whenever you need to, you're safe, I promise," Olive eyes were filled with concern and worry when Ikuya looked back over his shoulder.   
"Thank you...for everything..." Ikuya yawned once more, feeling his eyes grow heavy.   
He placed the ice packs down and Makoto removed the two off his back as he lay down on his side, trying not to irritate his back anymore.   
It didn't take long for him to drift off into sleep, the noise from the TV lulling him into unconsciousness.

 

 

Knocks sounded on the door to Makoto's apartment the next day, shouts of his name also audible through the walls. The sound of a key sliding into the lock was quiet and the click of the door when it opened was almost inaudible. The pink haired male walked quickly into the apartment, assuming that Makoto just slept through his alarm, however, he wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him...

"Ikuya?"


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to make this 9 chapters long and everyone's probably gonna either hate me or love me in a few chapters as I've thrown in a really big plot twist...hehehe  
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter and the regular updates for the next few weeks, we all know it won't last long.

 

"Ikuya?"

The voice cut through the haze of sleep hovering over Ikuya's mind, his mind still too muddled by sleep to work out who was speaking or to open his eyes and see.  
He felt movement next to him and the voice speaking again in a hushed tone.  
"...Makoto...wake up. .!" The voice hissed and was followed by a groan, presumably from Makoto as he woke up.  
Kisumi stood in disbelief. He had only come round to pick Makoto up and drive to university like he did every day, however, this time, Makoto hadn't come to the door with a cheery smile as he usually immediately did. This time, Kisumi felt compelled to use the spare key he had been given, figuring that the brunette had simply slept through his alarm but upon entering the apartment, his confusion grew greatly.  
Ikuya, the one they had been desperately trying to get in contact with, was currently lying asleep next to Makoto in the apartment. What immediately caught Kisumi's eye was the dark swelling covering one of the smaller males eyes. It was clear that Ikuya had been hit by something but what? And why was he here and none of them knew? The pink haired male predicted that this must have been a recent occurrence as the previous day had passed by perfectly normally, with Kisumi coming to pick Makoto up without a hitch.  
He gently shook Makoto, whispering his name until he heard signs of life from the olive haired boy.  
Makoto rolled over as Kisumi shook his shoulder, making sleepy eye contact with the pink haired boy before realisations dawned on him, causing him to shook up where he sat  
"Kisumi!" Makoto spoke possibly a bit too loudly, glancing at Ikuya from the corner of his eye and seeing that he was still sleeping peacefully.  
"Makoto what's going on? What happened to Ikuya?" Kisumi asked, concern filling his voice.  
Makoto froze for a second, remembering that most of Ikuya's injuries were probably still on show as he hadn't put his shirt back on the previous night.  
"I...Uh...I don't think that's for me to tell you..." Makoto stuttered, desperate to try and keep his promise to Ikuya of not telling anyone.  
"...You didn't...uh..." Kisumi began, not knowing how to approach the topic, however, Makoto seemed to understand what he was saying as he quickly denied it, waving his hands in front of him.  
"No! No of course not! I'd never do that....but I think it'd be better if Ikuya told you himself, I promised not to tell any of you until he wanted to but I didn't expect you to come round...I guess I forgot you had the spare key..." Makoto looked embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.  
"Well I'm gonna guess you're not going in today so I'll wait with you, I imagine you don't want to wake him up yet?" Kisumi asked, to which Makoto agreed with a nod  
"I wasn't planning on going in, no. I completely forgot to tell you though which was stupid..."  
They heard a quiet groan come from the bed before a quiet yawn was heard.  
"What's going on...?" Ikuya's voice was heavy with sleep and his eyes were barely opened as he squinted against the bright sunlight flooding the room.  
After blinking a couple more times, his eyes became adjusted and immediately noticed the mop of pastel pink hair. He shot up from where he was laid, hearing Makoto shout something about being careful before the brunette was checking his back, making sure he hadn't pulled any of the stitches out.  
"Kisumi....." Ikuya breathed out quietly, the shock starting to wear off slightly "What are you doing here?"   
Fear had begun creeping up his throat, Kisumi wasn't supposed to know, he was going to tell the others, everyone would know...  
"...Kuya...Ikuya..." Makoto looked concerned as he gained the shorter boys attention.  
"It's okay, I promise. Kisumi's not going to tell anyone anything okay, right Kisumi?" Makoto's voice held a threatening tone, daring Kisumi to argue.  
"No, no, no! I won't tell anyone unless you want me to...I just came to pick Makoto up but uh...maybe not....are you alright?"  Kisumi's amethyst eyes were filled with concern as he surveyed what injuries he could see on the small male.  
"Yeah..." Ikuya responded, trying to cover himself.  
"I'll make some tea and some food and we can talk," Makoto offered, gesturing to Kisumi to sit down. "I'm going to guess you're not going in today now?" he added, the question aimed towards Kisumi who shook his head in response.  
Makoto made his way into the kitchen, filling up the kettle and flicking it on as he heard quiet talking filtering in from the living room.  
"Honestly are you okay? What happened?" ever curious Kisumi asked.  
"I...I'll be okay.....I don't know if I want to talk about it yet though....." Ikuya replied, thinking of the psychologist's phone number which he had been given at the hospital and thinking about how he was dreading talking about the entire experience.  
"It's okay. How have you been...I mean apart from this but..uh...yeah?" it was strange to see Kisumi struggling to find a conversation topic however, he didn't want to say the wrong thing and accidentally upset the smaller boy.  
"Uhh, I mean I was good, America was so different from Japan...it was strange....then I moved back and uh....yeah..." Ikuya struggled to explain it, his mind clouded from sleep and leftover painkillers in his system.  
He was suddenly wrapped in an unexpected hug, tensing up on instinct before relaxing slightly into Kisumi's hold.  
"We all missed you, we were trying to get in contact with you..." The pink haired male smiled sadly, pulling away to look into Ikuya's eyes. "If you ever feel ready to talk about it, I'm here for you, but don't feel pressured to say anything,"  
Ikuya nodded gratefully with a smile as Makoto returned with three mugs of tea in his hands, offering a smile before returning to the kitchen to grab the bowls of pasta he had cooked, bringing them into the living room and passing them to each of the two boys.  
"So...uh, Natsuya texted again, he said he was on the train about ten minutes ago," Makoto explained, Ikuya nodded and Kisumi's face showed surprise as he asked.  
"Natsuya-senpai?"   
Ikuya nodded slightly, avoiding eye contact with both people.  
"Yeah, he's coming to check on Ikuya. Oh yeah, that reminds me, Ikuya do you want to ring your university to say that you're not in today?"   
Ikuya's eyes widened as he looked around frantically for his phone.  
"What's wrong?" Makoto asked gently, worried about the smaller male.  
"My phone...Hiyori's probably trying to call me...." Ikuya felt a shiver run down his spine at the thought and felt bile rising in his throat as he said Hiyori's name, the single word burning his mouth.  
"Ah, I put it on charge for you when we got back last night, I'll go grab it," Makoto said, jumping up and rushing into the kitchen, returning and handing the phone to Ikuya.  
Ikuya's hands shook as he held his phone, struggling to type in the password due to his fingers shaking.  
He felt a warm hand being placed on his wrist and glanced up to see Kisumi looking at him in concern.  
"Ikuya...did Hiyori...do this...?" His voice shook as he spoke, an angry undertone to his voice.  
Ikuya said nothing, tears building in his eyes before he mustered up the courage to nod slowly.  
"That bastard..." Kisumi muttered, biting his lip nervously as he glanced to Makoto. 'Haru was right' he mouthed to the brunette quickly before they both turned their attention back to Ikuya.  
"Ikuya, has he been messaging you again?" Makoto asked gently as Ikuya tried once more to type his password in with trembling hands. He managed and the home screen appeared, everyone's eyes immediately floating towards the messages and phone call icons. There was a small red bubble above each icon, 64 missed calls, 78 text messages.  
Ikuya took in a sharp breath, shivering although the room was warm. His finger moved above the text message icon, ready to click on it when a loud, desperate sounding knock on the door startled the three of them.  
Makoto rushed towards the door, opening it and briefly greeting Natsuya before leading him inside to where Kisumi and Ikuya were sat, the pink haired male gently stroking the back on Ikuya's hand as the smaller male stared blankly at the phone screen in front of him, all confidence to open the messages gone.  
Upon seeing his younger brother, Natsuya rushed over, pulling the younger into a long hug as Ikuya clung onto the back of his brother's shirt.  
Tears fell freely from Ikuya's eyes as he felt the concern radiating off his brother who was holding back stinging tears, wanting to be strong for his brother.  
After a couple of minutes, Natsuya released his brother, holding him gently by the shoulders and looking him over to spot any injuries other than his dark swollen eye.  
"How bad was it...?" He whispered out, to which Ikuya lowered his gaze, silently turning around as best as he could, revealing the mess of wounds and stitches covered with bruises that covered his back.  
A sharp inhale from Natsuya signalled that he had seen it and so Ikuya turned back around, removing the blanket off his legs to show his bruised and battered knees.  
Natsuya dropped to his knees on the floor next to his brother, making direct eye contact with him and gently taking his hand before talking.  
"Ikuya, none of this is your fault, okay? I want you to remember that okay?"  
Makoto and Kisumi watched the exchange awkwardly before Makoto checked the time and headed to the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of painkillers the doctor had prescribed for Ikuya. He grabbed a glass which he filled with water as well before returning, passing them to Ikuya who quickly took the pills, wincing at the bitter taste as they slid down his throat.  
  
Natusya turned to Makoto, unshed tears glistening in his eyes as he began thanking the brunette.  
"Its no problem, I...I'm actually glad you called me...I'm glad I could help...I'd of hated for Ikuya to go back to...that or to sleep somewhere random...." Makoto replied, earning a small smile from Ikuya.  
"Thank you so much, I've probably been hard to deal with but you still tried to talk to me and help me, I could never thank you enough," Ikuya spoke quietly and there was a brief moment of silence before a loud ringtone filled the air, making everyone in the room jump with surprise.  
Ikuya stared down in horror at the phone in his hands, the name flashing in the screen sending him into a panic.  
Hiyori.  
His brother quickly snapped the phone up out of his hand, declining the call and gently holding Ikuya's hand, coaxing him to breathe.  
  
  
After briefly catching up, Natsuya offered to head back to Ikuya's dorm to collect some of his clothes, making Ikuya tense up at the mention of returning.  
"It's okay, I'll go, you stay here with Makoto and Kisumi, okay," Natsuya soothed his brother, not expecting the response he received.  
"No, I wanna go with you," The younger Kirishima brother gave no explanation, seeing the questioning looks upon his friends and brothers faces.  
"I...I'm going to have to go back at some point...I...I want to try and face it now...rather than later..." Ikuya felt slightly more confident than he sounded however, he knew that this wouldn't go smoothly and he was prepared, or as prepared as he could be.  
"Ikuya...Are you sure...?" Makoto asked unsure, receiving a nod in response.  
"Please," Ikuya sounded almost desperate as he spoke.  
  
  
  
After settling on going to Ikuya's dorm to collect some of his things, Kisumi and Makoto insisted on going too, insistent on being there for moral support and so, the four of them set off, Kisumi driving with Natsuya giving directions as Ikuya napped on his shoulder.  
They reached the forms as round mid-afternoon and after waking up, Ikuya only then realised how far he had run last night.  
Upon getting out of the car, the group made their way towards the main entrance, heading towards the lift to make it easier for Ikuya.  
The floors went by until they reached the third floor, the doors sliding open, showing the view of the corridor.   
Reaching Ikuya's room, Natsuya took the key off his brother, pushing it into the lock and turning it to unlock the door. Trying the handle, Natsuya found that the door wouldn't open, realising that the door had already been unlocked and he had just locked it.  
"You didn't leave the door unlocked did you?" Natsuya asked, watching as Ikuya shook his head, his eyes wide with fear.  
"Ikuya, I think you should go back to the car," Natsuya suggested, seeing Kisumi gently take his brother's hand.  
"No, I have to do this," Ikuya argued, taking a deep breath.  
"Ikuya," Natsuya warned "If he is actually in there, who knows what he'll do, I want you to be safe,"  
"And what about you? If we leave you here alone you won't be safe," Ikuya retorted "I'll wait behind a bit but I'm not leaving, I can't,"  
Natsuya gave a defeated smile before commenting  
"You always were strong-willed, just promise me you'll be careful" Natsuya reached out to ruffle Ikuya's hair as he spoke.  
  
Natsuya turned the key again and pushed the door open slowly, entering and flicking the light on upon noticing that the curtains had been closed.  
The group entered the dorm further, entering the main room and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, however, a cough sounded from the kitchen, gaining all four people's attention.  
"Oh Ikuya, I knew you'd come back, you can't live without me," Hiyori's taunting voice came from the dimly lit kitchen. "And look, you brought a support group with you, how cute. Too bad they can't help you, you're useless,"  
Ikuya felt his hands begin trembling slightly before a loud shout interrupted.  
"Shut up!" it came from Natsuya who was red in the face, looking like he was barely holding back from hitting the brunette. "Shut up and get out. Now. Before I call the police preferably," The oldest in the room growled, earning a chuckle from Hiyori who brushed past them all, running a hand down Ikuya's arm as he passed, causing the smaller male to flinch back harshly as he spat out.  
"Don't. Touch. Me."   
Hiyori laughed manically as he left, being stopped by a large body slamming him against the wall an angry growl leaving his mouth as he pushed an arm against the brunette's throat, cutting off his air supply.  
"If you ever, ever touch him again, I swear to god..."  
"Natsuya, please, leave it," Ikuya practically begged, the brunette glancing back before releasing Hiyori with another growl as he spat.  
"Don't ever let me see you here again,"  
With another laugh, Hiyori walked out if the dorm, leaving the four of them stood in a tense silence.  
"God Ikuya....I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have retaliated..." Natsuya apologised as he gently pulled Ikuya towards him.  
"It's okay...He did start it...it's understandable...." Ikuya replied, his voice muffled by Natsuya's jacket.  
"Are you alright?" Makoto asked, concern filling his voice as he gently stroked Ikuya's arm. The shorter male nodded and pulled away from his brother.  
"Come on, let's get your stuff and get out of here," Kisumi suggested which everyone agreed to. Ikuya began collecting various items of clothing, packing them into a bag.  
They finished up, leaving and locking the door behind them although they knew that Hiyori had a key. Upon reaching the ground floor once more, Natsuya headed to the reception, telling them briefly about the situation and saying that Hiyori had the spare key for the room. They agreed to change the lock on the door the next day and the four of them left, heading back to Makoto's apartment.  
  
After settling back in at Makoto's apartment, Ikuya was given ice packs again by Makoto which he placed on his knees, handing a couple to Natsuya who gently held them against his back.  
  
"Ikuya, I'm sure you've probably realised but it's going to be hard to completely stop Haru and Asahi from knowing you're here but we don't have to tell them exactly what's happening, is there anything you'd prefer that we tell them or...?" Makoto asked, referring to Kisumi coming unannounced that morning.  
"No...I need to tell them....I've worried everyone enough..." Ikuya mumbled, immediately receiving protests saying it wasn't his fault.  
"You don't have to if you don't want to though, you don't have to force yourself to," Kisumi added.  
"Yeah...I know...I...I want to see them, and it's kind of hard to hide my eye and explain why I can't swim for ages without explaining what's happening," Ikuya explained  
"Okay...Do you want me to arrange for them to come here at some point?" Makoto asked, gently placing a hand on Ikuya's thigh to which he nodded.  
"Not today....but yeah...I need to explain..." Ikuya mumbled, relaxing into his brothers hold.  
"They won't judge you or anything, I promise," Makoto reassured, receiving a noise of agreement from the smaller male who's eyes slipped closed due to the tiredness caused by the painkillers he'd been given.  
"I'm sorry I'm just a bit tired..." Ikuya mumbled, gaining a smile from Natsuya who replied  
"Its okay, just sleep, for now, we're right here, you're safe,"  
With that, Ikuya felt himself slip into unconsciousness, not noticing the three fond but concerned smiles aimed at him.


	7. 7

Fuzziness clouded Ikuya's mind as he awoke, feeling strong arms wrapped gently around him. Upon tilting his head up slightly, he noticed Natsuya, his expression calm and tranquil as he slept soundly.

He was hit by a sudden wave of fear as he recalled what had awoken him. A dream. Well, a nightmare to be more precise. Hiyori had followed them, he had broken in during the night and had been filled to the brim with pure rage, taking it out on not only Ikuya but also his brother and friends.

Loud clattering noises from the kitchen caught his attention, earning a sharp flinch from Ikuya who shot up in bed, not concerned about waking his brother who let out a small confused grunt.

Ikuya climbed out of bed carefully limping and grabbing the nearest item he could find which could be used in self-defence, a pair of scissors lying on the sideboard. After mentally steeling himself, he held the scissors out in front of him as he limped into the kitchen, barely managing to hold back noises of pain as his knees protested.

The door swung open silently and he saw the silhouette of a person's back, feeling his fear spike dramatically, he hid behind the door, barely breathing out of fear. His knees ached and protested anytime he shifted his weight, however, if this was Hiyori, he was prepared to fight, or at least defend himself as best he could.

He could vaguely make out the person's hair colour.  _Brown hair......Hiyori..._

Ikuya stepped forwards slightly, prepared to confront the person, however, he felt a hand grasping his wrist.

"Ikuya?" Natsuya's voice was full of confusion as he sleepily asked what he was doing.

The person in the kitchen had taken notice of them now as Ikuya turned to face Natsuya.

Ikuya's eyes were wide with panic as he looked away from his brother again, his heart almost leaping out of his chest when he saw that the person had moved closer and was now stood directly in front of him.

His gaze trailed up to meet the face of...Makoto. Ikuya sighed, trying to calm down his racing heart as he took a deep breath in before releasing it again.

"Are you alright?" Makoto asked gently, concern plastered upon his face as he could practically see the rapid pace of Ikuya's heart.

"Sorry...I...I heard you in here and thought it was Hiyori...I had a bad dream....and he was here...."

"It's okay, I promise you he won't get you. You're safe here...Do you want to talk about it? Your dream I mean," Makoto asked gently as Natsuya gently ran a hand down Ikuya's arm.

Ikuya shook his head and quietly replied

"No, it was just stupid, he'd followed us here and tried to hurt everyone...I'll be fine...It mainly just shocked me, that's all," 

Ikuya winced slightly as the adrenaline wore off, leaving a sharp ache in his knees which only grew worse the longer he stood.

Natsuya seemed to sense this, scooping his brother up in his arms effortlessly and heading back to the bed, Makoto following after.

"I was meaning to ask, do you plan on staying at your dorm? Because of Hiyori and everything....it....it doesn't seem very safe for you....."  Makoto asked, sitting down on the spare chair in the room.

"I...I'm not sure....I...haven't thought about it...." Ikuya replied, however, something didn't seem right with his tone of voice which his brother picked up on immediately.

"Do you feel safe going back there? Do you think you could happily stay there alone without being afraid?" Natsuya prompted.

Ikuya shook his head immediately, having to accept the fact that he had been terrified from the moment they had stepped into the building the previous day.

"I...I really didn't want to go in yesterday....but I thought if I faced that it'd all be okay....apparently it's not as simple as that...." Ikuya mumbled sadly

"It's alright, from now things will hopefully only get better," Makoto reassured

"Kisumi's uncle runs an estate agent, right?" Natsuya directed the question at Makoto who nodded in reply.

"He helped me and Haru out when we moved to Tokyo, I can call him in the morning if you'd like?" 

Natsuya nodded and turned to Ikuya once more and spoke.

"We'll start looking for apartments as soon as possible, I can make up an excuse to tell mum and dad if you'd like?" 

Ikuya agreed, unsure about telling their parents about what had happened.

"Alright, we'll start looking later okay, it's still early so try and get some more sleep," Makoto suggested, heading back to his bedroom as Natsuya wrapped himself around his brother once more.

 

 

A few hours later, sunlight began pouring into the apartment, waking everyone up once more as the apartment seemed to come to life.

Makoto called Kisumi's uncle and he agreed to show them around some local apartments, arranging to meet them after lunch and so, the three of them got themselves ready, deciding to get lunch at Asahi's sister's cafe.

Kisumi agreed to meet them later too, offering to stay with the Kirishima brothers as they looked at apartments whilst Makoto went to work, after which they had agreed to meet Haru and Asahi at the cafe once more.

Ikuya was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed already however, he pushed through it.

He was introduced to Asahi's sister who offered him a kind smile and told him he was welcome there anytime before the group left to meet Kisumi and his uncle.

They were shown around multiple apartments, all of them close enough to Shimogami university but also far away from the dorms that Hiyori likely wouldn't see him.

By the time they'd finished looking around different apartments, Ikuya was thoroughly exhausted, yawning every few minutes, however, they had agreed to meet the others and so, they headed back to the cafe, Kisumi immediately noticing Makoto, Haru and Asahi sat at their usual table. They had already ordered drinks and so Kisumi led Ikuya and Natsuya over to the counter, the three of them ordering the drinks oblivious to the chaos that had started at the table.

 

"Makoto! That's Ikuya and Natsuya-senpai! What's going on?" Asahi hissed, unable to sit still as he itched to find out what was happening.

"Makoto...Is this why you got us all to meet here?" Haru asked, his voice tinged with concern that would be unnoticeable to anyone else.

"Yeah, I guess, look everything will be explained just whatever you do, don't harass Ikuya too much, okay? Asahi?" Makoto asked, turning to the redhead with a knowing look. He could tell that Asahi was desperate to know what was happening but it wasn't right for Makoto to explain and so the three waited in tense silence, all eyes focussed on the two brothers as they waited for their drinks with Kisumi.

"Makoto..." Asahi's voice seemed to shake slightly as he spoke "What happened to Ikuya? Why is he on crutches? What happened to his eye?"

The brunette notice Asahi's hands clenched tightly into fists and gently reached over to place his own hands on top of them.

"Uh...everything will be explained in a minute okay....just....try to stay calm...Please don't get angry..." Makoto asked as Kisumi led the way over to the table.

Ikuya could feel his heart rate increasing slightly as he saw his other middle school friends. Asahi looked just about ready to punch someone and Haru seemed slightly passive but there was something lurking deep in his eyes, something that looked like concern.

As they sat down at the table, all eyes were focussed on Ikuya as he avoided eye contact with everyone, taking a deep breath.

"...Ikuya...." Asahi breathed out, almost in disbelief "..A..are you okay...?"

Ikuya nodded slowly before stopping, deciding to begin explaining.

"Uh...I'm not really sure how to explain this..." Ikuya laughed slightly forced. "I...I guess ...Well...Uh..." Ikuya struggled to explain, unable to find the right words to explain.

"Hiyori did this didn't he?" Haru asked quietly, to which Ikuya nodded silently, before asking 

"Was that just a lucky guess or was it that obvious?" He had intended it to be a joke however, there was a sad tone to it too.

"When I saw you after that tournament, something seemed off about both of you, he seemed really defensive and you seemed...scared...Then he stopped us from even talking to you and it all seemed a bit strange..." Haru spoke quietly and Ikuya realised how much trouble Hiyori had caused.

"He stopped you from seeing me? He never mentioned ever talking to you...?" Ikuya mumbled quietly.

"After we saw you that first time, we went to try and find you but Hiyori stopped us...he refused to let us even see you. Then we met up with Nao-senpai ad he said it seemed strange and that he'd try and find out what was wrong. That was a few days ago now but he never got back to us...." Asahi explained.

The entire table was quiet for a minute as they let the information hang heavily in the air.

"H...how bad are your injuries..?" Asahi asked carefully, not wanting to upset Ikuya.

"I...can't swim for at least 3 weeks...My knees are bruised pretty badly...and I have some stitches in my back...again they'll probably take about three weeks to heal enough to swim but even then I have to be careful." Ikuya sighed, missing the simplicity of his life before Hiyori.

"Ikuya....." Asahi mumbled. He looked torn between anger and sympathy, The latter winning as he reached over the table and took Ikuya's hand within his own

"If there's anything we can do to help tell us immediately and we'll do it!" Asahi sounded hopeful as he spoke and Ikuya smiled faintly, thankful that his friends were understanding about the situation

"Thank you...for not freaking out...." Ikuya felt his eyes watering which was immediately noticed by Natsuya who put his arm around the smaller males shoulders, gently pulling him into a hug.

"I always knew Natsuya senpai was secretly a sap," Asahi commented, eliciting laughs from around the table and a hard glare from the brunette.

"Do you want to fight?" Natsuya playfully asked before Ikuya added in

"It's true though, you are a sap,"  

After another hour or so of catching up with each other, the group all exchanged phone numbers, ensuring that they won't lose contact again before each heading off home.

 

 

The next few days passed by fairly quickly, Makoto had returned to going to university and Ikuya and Natsuya spent the days looking for an apartment. They had decided upon two possible places which they were visiting again to decide which one was best. The others had all offered to help move things from Ikuya's dorm when they decided upon an apartment and Ikuya had some news of his own to share with the group.

He had been practically bubbling with excitement the past few days and it was threatening to spill over however, he decided to wait.

 

A couple more days passed and Ikuya had decided on an apartment not too far from Makoto's. The day had arrived to begin packing up everything in his dorm to prepare to move in and so, They headed to the same cafe from the other night with Makoto.

The rest of the group slowly began filtering into the shop, joining them at the table they had chosen. Random conversation filled the air and Ikuya sat in his seat, practically shaking with excitement as he waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Once everyone had sat down, Ikuya gained the group's attention, giving a mischievous smile as he announced

"I'm transferring to Hidaka university," He waited to gauge people's reactions before explaining further, "I...really don't think I could deal with seeing Hiyori every day....and it seemed kinda logical..."

The table was silent for a minute before Asahi jumped up, reaching across the table to pull Ikuya into a hug, almost knocking over a glass and receiving a yell from his sister about being more careful.

"You will be joining the swim team, right?" Asahi asked as he pulled away, causing the entire table to laugh as memories of middle school came back.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Ikuya grinned in reply.

The group began leaving soon after, splitting up into different cars and heading towards Ikuya's dorm, ready for a long day of packing.

Ikuya stared out the window as they drove, wondering how his life turned around in such a short time. It felt calm, peaceful even for the first time in months. Little did he know it was all about to change......

 

Something felt off as they got closer and closer to Ikuya's dorm however, the teal haired boy couldn't think what it was that felt wrong. He blamed the strange feeling on the slight fear he still felt about going into the same building as Hiyori. He assumed that his fear was coming from the other day when Hiyori had tried to touch him, however, as they pulled into the road leading towards the dorms, it was clear that something much more extreme was happening there.

The car slowed almost to a complete stop at the sight of flashing blue lights and the sound of deafening sirens.

"What's going on?" Kisumi, who had been driving asked.

There was a large crowd gathered around the building, an ambulance and two police cars at the centre of the commotion.

The group exited the car, heading over to the crowd in an attempt to find out what was going on. Ikuya, upon seeing another member of the Shimogami university swim team asked what was going on, his blood running cold when he heard the answer.

"It's Hiyori..." He began "He...He's dead...."

Ikuya felt the world spin around him as he heard this, a million questions rushing through his head.  _How? Why? What happened? Who did it? Why?_ Before he even knew what was happening, his world began fading to black around him, bright flashes of light appearing in his vision before he passed out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heheheheh, people will either love me or hate me for this :)))))))))


	8. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, this chapter is pretty graphic again, please take care reading this!!!!!!!  
> Also, I don't know how police investigations work, the most I know is from watching true crime videos on youtube so that might not be accurate...hehehhe

Confusion was the first thought that rushed through Ikuya's head as his eyes fluttered open, the many concerned faces peering down at him swimming in front of him. 

The memory of what he'd been told came back to him full force, making his stomach churn violently as he struggled to sit up, feeling bile rise up in his throat. Natsuya tried to coax him to lie back down again, saying that he'll pass out again if he sits up too quickly, however, Ikuya choked out a quiet

"Feel sick..." Which made Natsuya release him just as the contents of Ikuya's stomach hit the floor next to him.

"Ikuya, can you lie back down for me... look awfully pale...." Natsuya asked gently, encouraging Ikuya to lean back against his chest.

"Does your head hurt at all? Do you think you hit it when you fell?"  Makoto asked quietly, not wanting to draw too much attention from the crowd.

"I don't think so...maybe...." Ikuya reached behind his head, pressing his fingers against the back of his skull to try and see if it hurt. He winced sharply upon pressing into a lump on his head as his vision blurred once more.

"Maybe I did..." Ikuya replied.

Asahi came into Ikuya's line of sight, pushing through the crowd with one of the paramedics close behind.

As they approached, Ikuya tried to sit up more however was stopped by his brother.

The paramedic kneeled down in front of him, asking him a couple of questions about what happened and how he felt.

After finishing asking questions and checking that his head wasn't bleeding or anything, the paramedic went to grab some ice from the ambulance along with some medication.

"I think maybe we should leave, we can come back another time," Makoto suggested. The rest of the group minus Ikuya responded, the teal haired boy too shocked to respond, his eyes wide and his breathing heavy.

The paramedic returned and instructed Ikuya to hold the ice pack to the back of his head, holding out a plastic cup full of water and some tablets.

After giving some more instructions including not using electronic devices, the paramedic allowed them to leave, Natsuya lifting Ikuya up and carrying him back to the car, unwilling to risk letting him walk in case he fainted again.

"I can walk you know," Ikuya commented his voice emotionless and his gaze blank.

"I know but just because you can, doesn't mean you should, you look too pale at the moment," Natsuya replied, his expression filled with concern.

The drive home was filled with tense silence as they all realised what had actually happened.

Hiyori was dead. They didn't receive any further information from the other swimmer but it was shocking enough to know the brunette was dead. It must have been true as well if the multiple police cars and ambulances had anything to do with it.

They all joined Makoto and the Kirishima brothers and returned to Makoto's apartment with them, the room filled with a dark, depressing atmosphere.

They were all sat around the coffee table in the living room when Ikuya wordlessly stood up, receiving disapproving comments from his brother who told him to slow down.

He limped towards the kitchen slowly, vaguely remembering that that was where he had left his phone the previous night.

He ignored the advice of the paramedic, unlocking the device, immediately being greeted by two notifications 97 missed calls, 143 text messages.

He clicked on the text messages, finding 138 of them to be from Hiyori over the past few days after he had fought back against him.

Upon scrolling through a couple of the more recent ones, his heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest.

 

_To: Ikuya_

_From: Hiyori_

 

_Yesterday: 17:56_

_I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm going to make this right, just wait and you'll see._

 

_Yesterday: 18:07_

_It's okay, I'll mention you in my note._

 

_Yesterday: 18:08_

_I'll be sure to mention your cruel threats of calling the police from the other night._

 

_Yesterday: 18:20_

_Why won't you reply?_

 

_Yesterday: 18:24_

_Even when I'm about to die, you won't talk to me_

 

_Yesterday: 18:29_

_How cruel..._

 

_Yesterday: 19:48_

_I love you Ikuya_

 

_Yesterday: 20:01_

_Midnight...I'll wait until midnight...If you reply before then maybe I'll consider living..._

 

_Yesterday: 23:58_

_Last chance Ikuya..._

 

_Today: 00:02_

_Happy 1-year anniversary....goodbye Ikuya._

 

The messages ended after that and Ikuya felt sick once more. Whether that was from the concussion or the intense spiral of feeling he was currently experiencing, he didn't know. He gripped the edge of the counter where he stood, trying to ground himself by digging his fingertips into the hard surface.

Taking in a shaky breath, he picked his phone up once more, clicking on one of the voicemails and holding the device up to his ear.

He could hear water running faintly in the background, no sounds of life audible for around a minute when a voice began talking.

"Ikuya...I know you won't listen to this until it's too late....I've already taken a bunch of tablets.....my wrists are bleeding lots too...I even found some chlorine tablets when I stayed behind at the pool to practice more.....if...if this isn't enough, I've also hung up a rope.....I want to make sure...I want you to be happy.....I always wanted you to be happy...." There was a paused and some shuffling heard on the other end of the line before ikuya heard the phone being picked up and moved as footsteps crossed the room.

"It's midnight.....It's time...Happy anniversary Ikuya....unfortunately I won't be with you." 

A chair scraping across the ground sounded on the phone and Ikuya's eyes grew impossibly wider, a hand covering his mouth as he listened on in horror, hoping that this was some practical joke. A couple of minutes passed before he heard the clattering of a chair and the desperate choking noises coming through the phone before there was a loud cracking noise as the phone presumably fell to the floor, smashing into pieces and effectively ending the call.

When silence came over the phone, Ikuya stood frozen. He knew he should do something, tell Natsuya, the police probably, but he couldn't bring himself to even move, forgetting to even let out the breath he had been holding.

"Ikuya?" Asahi's concerned voice came from the doorway, sounding deafeningly loud to Ikuya.

  
"H...He...I....A...Asahi.....W..what have I done......" Ikuya's voice was hysteric as he finally got the words out, his hands reaching up to pull at his own hair.

"Ikuya, none of this is your fault, I promise you..."

"No! Shut up! None of you know anything! It is my fault!" Ikuya broke down after his outburst, sobbing out a quiet "I could have stopped him...But I ignored him...when he needed help...It's all my fault Asahi! Why can't you understand that?" Ikuya's loud voice had attracted the attention of the others in the living room who had appeared to try and calm down the hysteric male.

Makoto handed a phone number to Kisumi and asked him to call it and ask for an appointment for Ikuya as soon as possible. He knew he shouldn't do it without Ikuya agreeing however, he couldn't think of anything they could possibly do to help him at the moment. Kisumi agreed and left the room silently, dialling the psychologist's number.

"Ikuya, Ikuya, listen to me, okay, you're okay, you're safe and everything is going to be alright," Natsuya attempted to reassure, holding his hands out in front of him as he tried approaching his brother as if approaching a scared animal.

"It's okay, Kisumi's gone to call the psychologist that the doctor recommended, they'll be able to help you, I promise," Natsuya managed to reach out and touch his brother, gently stroking his arm as the younger male relaxed into his touch slightly.

"I don't want to...The police....they need to see this...Please..." Ikuya's eyes were brimmed with tears as he stared pleadingly at his brother "Please...They're going to ask about it eventually.....I...I have to do it now...or I won't be able to...."

Natsuya glanced at the others, willing to go along with it if everyone else was. The rest of the group agreed and Ikuya approached them cautiously as if they would change their minds. He clutched the phone tightly within his hands, feeling his entire body shaking as the group agreed to send Makoto and Natsuya with him whilst the others waited in Makoto's apartment.

It didn't take long for them to reach the police station and Natsuya explained the situation briefly to the receptionist who immediately led them through to an interview room, informing them that a police officer would be with them in a moment.

 

True to the receptionist's word, two uniformed officers entered the room a couple of minutes later, checking the details that they had been told to ensure they had the correct people.

"So, Ikuya Kirishima, right?" One of the officers asked him, to which he nodded "Is it okay if we interview you alone first, as you're the one who has information about the case . Then if your friends would like to add anything, they can at the end? Is that alright?" 

Ikuya nodded and glanced towards his brother and Makoto as they left the room to sit outside.

Ikuya still had his phone clutched tightly in his hands and once the door closed after the other two, he placed in on the table in front of him unlocked.

"H...Hiyori was my ex-boyfriend.....and...he...he abused me..." It was kind of relieving to finally say the words aloud and Ikuya could feel tears building in his eyes at the confession. "I...A few days ago...I left and he found me at a park I used to go to...He threatened me so I threatened to call the police if he came near me and ran....I...I've been looking for a new apartment so that he can't find me.....so we went to my dorm to get some stuff....and ran into him...he was waiting in my dorm....M...my brother got annoyed and told him to never come near me again and then we left...." He took a deep breath before continuing, the adrenaline running through his veins fueling his explanation "Today we went back to get more stuff but there was police there and ambulances and a big crowd.....someone I knew told me he had died...I fell and hit my head so we went home....well to a friends apartment...and I checked my phone....and there are messages from before he...died.....and a voice mail...I thought it might be helpful possibly...." 

The teal haired boy pushed the device closer to the officers, allowing them to see the messages sent which they read over before listening to the voicemail, Ikuya trying to cover his ears and block the noise out as they listened to it. After hearing it once, they scrolled through a few of the older messages sent before asking carefully

"Is it okay if we keep this for a while, this could be crucial for the investigation and could help with the post mortem examination?" 

Ikuya nodded, regretting it soon after as his head spun with the concussion.

"I don't want to see the other messages...Please take it...I never want to see it again..." Ikuya stared wide-eyed at the table before hearing the other officer ask.

"Have you been to see a psychologist about any of this or have you been offered to see one?"

Ikuya made a noise of agreement and replied.

"The hospital recommended someone...A friend called them earlier for me...."

"Okay and did anyone interview you about what happened when you went to the hospital?" The same officer asked

"Yes," Ikuya replied as the officer made note of it.

"Thank you for your time and for handing this in, none of this is your fault, from the sounds of it, he had a few mental disorders which ultimately led to this, it is in no way your fault and you don't deserve to be thinking that. Would you like a minute alone to calm yourself down or would you like your friends to join you?" The officers spoke as they collected their paperwork, placing Ikuya's phone on top of the pile.

"N...no...I'm fine...They can come in...." Ikuya weakly responded, feeling exhaustion creep up on him once more.

Upon re-entering the room, Makoto and Natsuya helped to silently comfort Ikuya who although didn't voice his feelings, was obviously distressed.

"Come on, we'll go back and get you an appointment with a psychologist, okay? I'm proud of you for doing this," Natsuya commented, wrapping an arm around Ikuya's shoulders as they made their way back to the car.

 

 

 

Asahi let out a frustrated sigh as Ikuya, Natsuya and Makoto left, annoyed at his inability to help Ikuya when he needed his friends help and support the most. Upon voicing his frustrations to Haru and Kisumi, Kisumi replied, his voice serious for once instead of happy and joking

"It's a hard situation to deal with and I'm sure Ikuya doesn't expect any of us to know what to do. Natsuya obviously knows the best ways to calm him down because he's his brother and Makoto just has some magical sixth sense that lets him deal with any situation perfectly, but just because we're not as good at helping out in that way, I'm sure Ikuya appreciates you here just as much. He needs support from as many people as possible right now whether they're good at handling others feelings or not,"

Asahi stared at the pink haired male in disbelief, finding Kisumi's newfound wisdom to be slightly shocking. Even Haru looked slightly surprised however, it had helped to reassure Asahi, even if just a little bit. Asahi's face seemed to light up in surprise for a second as he said.

"We should get all the blankets and pillows that Makoto has, bring them all in here and have a movie night. We could order takeout when the others get back and we could watch that film that Ikuya used to love, the little mermaid!"

Kisumi gave a wide smile and agreed that it was a good idea, both of them turning to Haru who shrugged in response.

And so, they searched the apartment for blankets, pillows, duvets, anything they could find, setting them all up in the living room and fiddling with the TV trying to turn it on.

 

The other three returned a short while later, their surprise evident on their faces as Asahi and Kisumi explain their idea.

Ikuya gives a weak smile and tells them that they don't have to do all of this for him, however, Asahi argues back saying

"We don't have to but we want to, we're your friends and aren't sure what else we can do to help. So, you just need to relax, we'll watch some movies and order some takeout, alright?"

Ikuya tiredly agreed that it did sound good settling down in between his brother and Asahi as the rest of them sat down and the film started.

As soon as the first scenes of the film started to play, Ikuya turned to Asahi in disbelief

"You remembered I used to love this film? How?" he asked the redhead,

Asahi laughed slightly at Ikuya's shock and replied with a small smile before saying

"It's just something that's always stuck with me for some reason, quite useful huh?"

Ikuya laughed slightly, the sound a relief to hear after the events of today. The teal haired boy rested his head against Asahi's shoulder, the redhead wrapping an arm around him and running his hand gently through his hair.

"I also remember that you used to fall asleep if someone stroked your hair," Asahi whispered with a grin earning a whine from Ikuya who became determined not to let his eyes slip closed. Unfortunately, he failed around halfway through the film, his eyes closing slowly as Asahi continued playing with the long strands of hair.

He snapped them open once more when he noticed they had closed against his will and pouted slightly when Asahi teased him about it, feeling appreciation for the five other people in the room.

"Thank you...You're all great friends," Ikuya mumbled slightly before turning his head towards Natsuya "And a great brother," he added, feeling at ease for the first time that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to get me some friends like these bois :))))))


	9. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend listening to some of the OST's from dive to the future at the end of this chapter, I feel like a few of them just make it a little bit more sad :)))))))

A couple of weeks passed and Ikuya had been attending regular sessions with the psychologist. He had been doing slightly better mentally and his knees were feeling better. His back had almost fully healed, leaving behind large obvious scars across his back. He had been to the hospital the previous day and they had checked how his knees and back were doing and he had been told that whilst his back had healed enough for him to swim again, his knees may need a couple more weeks to heal which he was content with. It had been hard not being able to swim or do anything really and he was thankful that it seemed as if this whole thing would be over soon. Well, almost over.

Hiyori's funeral was supposed to be held in a weeks time. Ikuya had been invited by Hiyori's mother who he had met a couple of times however, he hadn't replied yet to say whether he would be attending or not. He wasn't sure how much Hiyori's parents had been told by police and if he was being one hundred per cent honest, he was scared. Scared that they would blame him for their son's death, scared that they would be angry, furious even that he got to live whilst they had to bury their only son.

His mind was a whirlwind of different thoughts and feeling which he had been trying to sort through this past week with the help of the psychologist he had been seeing.

Ikuya's parents had heard about Hiyori a couple of days after he had died and had immediately contacted the teal haired boy, immediately deducing that there was more to the story than what they had heard. They both stayed on the phone with him as he started explaining what had happened, Natsuya joining him for moral support after he emerged from the shower. By the end of the explanation, both their parents and Ikuya were in tears and even Natsuya's eyes weren't dry.

After regaining their composure, their parents had promised to come to Tokyo to visit as soon as they could get time off work.

They had ended the phone call, promising to stay in contact more and Ikuya had let out a small sigh of relief, Natsuya gently ruffling his hair, pride filling him as he saw how far Ikuya had come in such a short time.

Within a week of Hiyori's death, Ikuya had returned to his dorm, accompanied by his brother and friends, prepared to pack everything to move into his new apartment.

A strange atmosphere filled the entire building that housed the dorms which was understandable given what had happened. Everybody knew what had happened. After all, anyone in the building had been evacuated that day and word spread like wildfire.

A couple of students greeted him with sympathy, clearly being unaware of the entire story and presuming that Ikuya would be distraught over his best friend's death, however, Ikuya couldn't blame them. To anyone else, it must have seemed like they were best friends but behind closed doors, it was quite a different story.

It didn't take long for them to pack everything seeing as there were six of them and it wasn't long before Ikuya was settled in his new apartment, his brother staying with him.

It was now two weeks after Hiyori's death, his funeral was in a weeks time and Ikuya had been accepted into Hidaka university. It was strange but not unwelcome to not see sympathetic faces surrounding him like he surely would have if he hadn't transferred. He had spoken to the coach of the swim team who had been ecstatic at having him on the team once he could swim again. Overall, things looked like they were getting better.

Another two days passed and he received another message from Hiyori's mother regarding the funeral.

The message itself was simple enough, stating that she knew what had happened and that she would understand if he didn't want to go to the funeral but that she'd like to see him again and see that he was alright after everything that had happened, even if they simply met up later on rather than at the funeral.

His heart warmed upon reading the message, remembering how kind Hiyori's mother had been previously when he had met her. It was after reading this that he decided that he would go to the funeral. Although Hiyori himself didn't exactly deserve it, his parents deserved the peace of mind that they would gain from him going to the funeral. And so, he replied, saying that he would be attending. He decided against asking whether Natsuya could go with him, feeling that this was something that he had to do alone.

And so, Thursday rolled around fairly quickly and Ikuya began getting ready, taking a long hot shower in the morning before dressing himself in formal black clothing.

He ate slowly, trying to stop the churning in his stomach as he thought about the day ahead and he flinched upon feeling a gentle hand on his shoulder, glancing up to see his brother smiling down at him.

"It's going to be okay," The brunette reassured "I'll come and pick you up whenever you're ready to leave, just text me. If anything goes wrong, again text me but I'm sure it will be fine. They'll understand how hard this is for you,"

Ikuya gave a small smile, thanking his brother who offered to drop him off, to which he agreed. 

He no longer needed crutches but he still limped slightly as he walked on the way to the car. He fiddled nervously with his fingers throughout the car ride, his heart pounding in his chest the closer they got to the church.

The teal haired boy took in a deep breath as they pulled up outside the church, feeling a hand rest on his leg. He looked towards his brother who gave an encouraging smile as Ikuya took another breath and opened the door, stepping out of the car.

After saying a quick goodbye to his brother, he spotted Hiyori's mother in the crowd, beginning to walk in the direction of the group. The older woman spotted him as he walked closer, heading over to him and gently asking.

"Are you sure you're alright?" To which Ikuya nodded, his eyes showing both apprehension and determination. "If anything goes wrong, feel free to leave or go outside for a while... I understand that this must be hard...." She continued and Ikuya nodded once more.

He followed her over to the group of people, feeling extremely out of place around Hiyori's family members, all of whom had different levels of understanding of what happened.

Hiyori's father approached him with a welcoming smile that seemed forced, not that Ikuya could blame him.

"Ikuya! How are you doing?" He asked 

"I'm not too bad....maybe a bit overwhelmed but it's alright," Ikuya replied, avoiding eye contact with the older male, almost afraid to see the non-existent anger in his eyes.

"That's understandable, there's a lot of people here and with everything that happened.....Well, I hope you're doing a bit better," Hiyori's father replied gently, placing a hand on Ikuya's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the younger.

They began heading into the church, Ikuya following Hiyori's parents' instructions of staying with them.

Ikuya realised halfway through the service that he may have underestimated how emotional this would make him. He had guessed that he would be able to keep it together until he got home at least, however, as various stories of Hiyori's life were told, Ikuya couldn't keep himself together any longer, tears slowly falling from his eyes.

He ended up having to leave the room for a moment when they brought the coffin in.

It was all too much and he needed some fresh air.

And so, he sat outside on the steps leading to the door for a while, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm his tears. 

Hiyori's life had been so normal, he had seemed happy when Ikuya had met him, what had happened though? Why had this happened? He couldn't work it out for the life of him, and no one else ever would now because he was gone.

If he could turn back time, he would've answered the text messages the brunette had sent, would have called the police to go and check on him before he killed himself. Maybe then he would still be here, maybe then he could explain why he acted how he did...

Ikuya barely noticed the door opening and closing again behind him as he stared over the graveyard until someone sat down next to him.

"It's not your fault..." The mystery person said. Upon glancing at the stranger, Ikuya didn't recognise him, his confusion showing on his face as the person began explaining. "I'm Hiyori's cousin. I know you've heard it before but it's not your fault. You ran because you had to to survive, it's instinct, and Hiyori.....well....I'm not sure he ever was completely stable....He...He used to spend so much time alone....then he met you and I thought he would change.....Shit, I'm sorry..." he cut himself off as his voice choked up, tears falling from his eyes.

"It's okay...You have the right to be upset, he was your cousin," Ikuya tried to comfort.

"You seem like a good person, you didn't deserve any of that....most people would refuse to come....but you did, why?" Hiyori's cousin seemed intrigued.

"I...I wasn't going to....but then his mother messaged me...and said she wanted to see me...to check I'm okay.....I figured she at least deserved that after losing her son...even though it's scary for me, she deserves peace of mind," Ikuya explained before adding "Sorry that probably didn't make much sense..."

"No, no...It made sense...You know that's really admirable of you...I...don't think I could have ever done that.....It must be really hard for you...." 

The two sat outside for a short while after that, both of them beginning to calm down as they talked before returning to the service, each of their minds slightly clearer.

It was early evening when Ikuya returned home, Natsuya right by his side as they stepped inside the lift to take them to their apartment.

"I'm really proud of you Ikuya, You've truly surpassed me, both in swimming and in mental strength, I can't even imagine how hard today must have been for you, but you did it...." Natsuya choked up towards the end of his sentence, wrapping an arm around his younger brother and gently ruffling his hair. Ikuya smiled silently, thoughts rushing through his head rapidly as they reached their apartment. He immediately got changed into more comfortable clothing, heading back out to the living room and feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders. Everything was behind him now, it was all in the past. And he was prepared to try his best to bury that past.

 

 

 

Early morning sunlight flooded into the room through the glass panelled roof, the sparkling light refracting off the waters surface, creating a beautiful reflection of waves on the walls of the building. Upon one of the starting blocks, Ikuya stood, pulling his goggles down over his eyes, crouching down and preparing to dive, taking a deep breath just as encouraging shouts echoed throughout the room.

He glanced to the poolside where his brother and friends all stood, cheering him on as he pushed himself off the starting block, cutting into the water and pushing himself through for the first time in what felt like forever. He built up some speed before turning and kicking off the wall a the opposite end of the pool.

Here in the water, he was no longer held back by his own fear, he swam effortlessly as if he had never even stopped. Once he reached the other end of the pool, he surfaced from the water, his chest heaving slightly as he heard the cheering of his friends coming closer.

"Ikuya that was amazing!" Makoto called as he made his way over to the teal haired boy.

"It's as if you've still been practising every day! I swear, your times haven't even gotten worse," Asahi grinned as Natsuya reached his hand down, pulling his brother out of the water and pulling him into a hug, not minding his clothes getting wet.

"Things are only going to get better from here," Natsuya murmured into Ikuya's ear, a wide smile gracing Ikuya's face, illuminated by the early morning sun making it glow with happiness.

"Crap, you need to get changed or you're gonna be late!" Asahi muttered upon checking his watch. 

"Late on the first day, that's terrible," Natsuya teased, receiving a playful punch to the arm from Ikuya who rushed off to get changed, calling back

"I wouldn't be late if you'd have set the alarm at the right time!"

Natsuya pouted before breaking out into a wide grin, chasing after his brother shouting

"I'm gonna get you for that one!"

Things may not have been perfect over the past few months for Ikuya but he could tell that things would get better, with his friends and his brother by his side, anything seemed possible.

 

 

 

 

 

_2020 Olympics_

_"And here we have everyone lining up for the individual medley, There are plenty of strong contenders for this year's Olympic gold, many of these competitors we've seen grow from national level swimmers to Olympic level. They're getting ready to start now, and who do you think will win?" One commentator asked, turning to the person next to him_

_"As you said, there are many strong contenders this year, it's hard to say who will win, we'll just have to wait and see."_

_Beep_

_The race started, all competitors diving into the pool and going into their first stroke. There was a couple who pulled ahead, however, as the race went on, it was clear that they began slowing down, allowing other competitors to surpass them._

_Ikuya took in a gulp of oxygen as he reached the final turn, pushing off the wall and pushing himself further, using every last ounce of strength to pull ahead of the race._

_It was all a blur as his hand slammed against the wall, he desperately tried to catch his breath as he pulled off his goggles, glancing up at the scoreboard._

_He could've sworn he felt his heart stop for a moment as he saw his name, a large number appearing next to it causing the crowd to erupt in loud cheers._

_**Ikuya Kirishima      1** _

_He felt his heart racing in his chest as his chest heaved trying to pull in more oxygen._

_"He's done it! Ikuya Kirishima has won the Individual Medley! After a rough season last year, he's pulled through where it really counts!" The commentators could barely be heard over the noise in the stadium, drowning Ikuya's thoughts in the noise._

_"Wow, to experience something as traumatic as he did and then managed to win the Olympics not even two years later is incredible! Truly an inspiration!"_

_He's done it._

_He had won the Olympics._

_At one point it had seemed as if he wouldn't even live long enough to see the Olympics and now here he was._

_It was overwhelming as he thought back to that first time he swam after Hiyori. He had fallen in love with the sport even more if possible and had sworn to himself that he would try his hardest and try for the Olympics._

_And here he was. His mind focussed in on where his parents and Natsuya were sat in the crowd, feeling a wave of emotions wash over him as he saw the pride upon their faces. As he was looking into the crowd, he spotted a somewhat familiar face sat next to his parents, her face tear-stained as she spoke to his parents._

_Hiyori's mother....._

_Although it had been a while, he still thought of Hiyori at times, wondering what could have happened, wondering what it would be like if things had been different. Would Hiyori be her cheering him on? Would he be competing?_

_He managed to cut off his train of thought before it spiralled too far out of control as the realisation dawned upon him once more._

_He had done it._

_Despite everything, he had won the Olympics._

_And he had never felt more proud of himself than he did at that moment._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not crying you are!  
> It's finished finally! I didn't plan for this story to be this long but things happen I guess. I feel like this is a nice way to end though.  
> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this and has enjoyed it and I'm so grateful for everyone's comments and kudos and support, thank youuuuuuu!  
> I thought of leaving this sort of on a cliffhanger but I couldn't, I needed a happy ending as much as everyone else.  
> I hope everyone has enjoyed this story and goodbye for now :)))))))


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